Big three to pick coach for team India

Kolkata: Former India captains Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid will be on the committee which will find Indian cricket team’s new coach and the support staff.The trio, according to sources, will provide input to BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya and secretary general Anurag Thakur, who were on the day entrusted with the job of finding the new coach at the working committee meeting of the Board.

“The process to identify the coach and support staff for the senior national team will be undertaken by the hon. president and the hon. secretary,” a BCCI release said. Zimbabwean Duncan Fletcher’s contract ended at the end of the World Cup while former India cricketer Ravi Shastri was with the squad in the capacity of team director.

It is expected that assistant coaches Sanjay Bangar, Bharath Arun and R. Sridhar will be retained. A working committee member made it clear that Ganguly will not be in the running for the job even as speculation is rife that the former Indian cricketer is the top contender for the job along with Shastri. “Since Sourav will be in the committee, he at least technically does not qualify for the job,” the member said.

The working committee also authorised president Dalmiya to constitute a cricket advisory committee comprising of prominent cricketers who will share their recommendations on the overall conduct and development of the game.The working committee decided to recommend batsman Rohit Sharma for the Arjuna Award for the year 2015. The panel also paid homage to the departed young cricketers from Bengal, Ankit Keshri, Gaurav Kumar of Jharkhand and the unfortunate victims of the earthquake that devastated Nepal and India.

The BCCI on Sunday also decided to seek fresh legal opinion on the controversial “low” valuation of IPL franchisee Chennai Super Kings when it demerged from its parent company India Cements, headed by N. Srinivasan. The working committee decided on the matter after questions were raised about the demerger valuation of CSK post the recent Supreme Court verdict in the IPL case.

An amount of Rs 5 lakh was recorded as the valuation of CSK’s demerger. The issue was also debated at the IPL governing council meeting in New Delhi. IPL operations chief Sundar Raman was questioned by some of the GC members about the “weird valuation” of the de-merger, as they were paying an annual franchise fee of Rs 40 crore and spending Rs60 plus crore as players’ remuneration.

“The committee decided to seek a fresh legal opinion on the demerger and transfer of shares of CSK for further action,” the BCCI said.

Sources revealed that former chief Shashank Manohar, who attended the meeting as a special invitee, debated the issue with Tamil Nadu Cricket Association vice-president P.S. Raman. “Manohar asked Raman by what logic the valuation was done at just '5 lakh when the market value is no less than '1500 crore,” the source said.