New Delhi: BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur on Wednesday left for Sri Lanka where he will be meeting Indian cricket team's Director Ravi Shastri on the sidelines of the second Test between the two countries starting on Thursday.
It is learnt that BCCI will take a final call on Team India's chief coach's post before the start of the South Africa series in October.
The official reason given for Thakur's visit is felictating the retiring Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara on behalf of BCCI and the Indian cricket team but one of the main agenda of his visit will be to have a detailed discussion with Team Director Shastri.
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"The BCCI secretary will be in Sri Lanka for the first two days of the second Test match. He has other political as well as BCCI commitments and will have to be back by August 22nd," a top BCCI official said.
"He will be interacting with the Indian cricketers and is likely to have a meeting with Team Director. Obviously the talks will veer around Indian team's performance and the areas of improvement," the offical said.
There is every possibility that Shastri's tenure and his future with the Indian cricket team might just come up for discussion.
However, it is quite clear that Indian cricket team is likely to have a chief coach in near future as the high-profile Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) will have its meeting scheduled in September.
"The date is yet to be finalised but there is a CAC meeting in September where we will get a clearer picture about the appointment of the chief coach," the BCCI official said.
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It was learnt that Thakur had a separate meeting with former India captain Sourav Ganguly on the sidelines of the IPL Working Group Meeting.
Both Thakur and Ganguly are part of the IPL Working Group, which concluded its discussions in Delhi today.
"As of now, Shastri's appointment as Team Director has been on a series to series basis. But with World T20 in another six months time, the BCCI is keen on having a bit of clarity on the coaching staff issue," the official added.
Meanwhile Ad-Hoc committee of BCCI formed for resumption of cricketing activity in Bihar has submitted its report to the BCCI secretary.
"They were instructed to submit the report of their findings after visiting Patna within three working days.
Accordingly, the committee has today submitted its findings to the Board secretary. Now a call will be taken on the time by which the trials for the junior age-group teams can start," the official added.
It was learnt that three states (Manipur, Mizoram and Chattisgarh), who have applied for affiliation will have separate cases.
"Chattisgarh is an associate member and they have a stadium. Their demand is of full membership. Manipur is now an affiliate member. They will probably be promoted to associate membership while Mizoram will probably get the affiliate membership. BCCI membership starts with affiliates, then to associates and then full membership which ensured voting rights," he explained.
