The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday held a long meeting with India captain Rohit Sharma, head coach Gautam Gambhir and national selection committee chairman Ajit Agarkar to discuss the future after India’s embarrassing 1-3 defeat in the recently concluded Test series against Australia.
In a meeting that lasted nearly three hours at a plush hotel in south Mumbai, BCCI deputy secretary Devajit Saikia and former secretary Jay Shah engaged in a conversation with the team management to find out what went wrong during the tour that saw India go to gave up five matches in the Test series, despite winning in Perth.
However, sources say a knee-jerk reaction is unlikely and with the Champions Cup only a month away, there was no question of changing support staff. Both Rohit and Virat Kohli will join the Champions Trophy squad, with the former leading the team.
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However, given the heavy workload, discussions were held on the future role of coaching staff and views were sought on how to make a phased transition to the longer format.
The last few months have been a challenging one for the Indian team as they lost the home Test series against New Zealand and then suffered a series defeat against Australia. “All three members presented their plans for the future and it was a discussion about how to plan things in the right direction for the future,” the source said.
Apart from the meeting, all state unit officials gathered for the BCCI to congratulate Shah on his election as the president of the International Cricket Council. National Cricket Academy director VVS Laxman also joined the gathering.
In the evening, the five-person selection committee also deliberated on the Champions Trophy lineup. It is expected that the squad could be formally announced about a week after the provisional squad was sent to the International Cricket Council on the scheduled date.
The Champions Trophy tournament will start on February 19 and will be played in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.
