Mumbai: The contracts of Zaheer Khan and Rahul Dravid were put on hold by the Committee of Administrators (CoA) on Thursday.
The Cricket Advisory Committee, after appointing former India captain Ravi Shastri as the head coach of the national side, also named former greats Zaheer Khan and Rahul Dravid as the bowling and batting consultants for the team on overseas tours.
However, after some criticism, the CoA has asked to look through the details of the contracts, before going ahead with the appointments.
Ravi Shastri, who is said to want the experienced Bharat Arun as his bowling coach, is set to have his wish granted, as Zaheer’s consultant contract may not be acceptable for the former paceman, according to a report in The Times of India.
Anil Kumble had stepped down from the post last month, following reports of a rift with captain Virat Kohli, after a year with the team.
However, the report stated that Zaheer Khan was always welcome to help the team, but Bharat Arun will work with team as a full-time coach, as Ravi Shastri trusted the latter’s work.
Dravid, who is also the coach of India ‘A’ and the India under-19 teams will, however, not be travelling to Sri Lanka with the team later this month. The former India skipper, meanwhile, will be involved with India ‘A’ during their tour of South Africa next month.
He will be called up only when needed, and will not travel with India for every overseas tour. The former Karnataka batsman, however, will not be granted a fresh contract with Team India, and the BCCI stated that they were working on zeroing down on the amount to be paid to Dravid.
Ravi Shastri, though, had earlier stated that he did not mind having Zaheer Khan as a bowling consultant, but added that Arun had a technical experience in working out flaws in the team.
Ravi Shastri will take on his first assignment as Team India head coach when the Test series against Sri Lanka kicks-off on July 26, with the first Test at Galle.
