On Wednesday, the Committee of Administrators (CoA) met the Indian team management to discuss the communication issues, review the performance in England and draw a roadmap for the upcoming Australia tour. The meeting was significant as it has been rumored recently that the Indian selection committee, led by MSK Prasad, is not on the same page as the team management comprising captain Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri.
However, all the attendees of the meeting seemed forthcoming when asked about what exactly transpired in the meeting. As CoA chief Vinod Rai said, “This was an internal meeting of the BCCI and we will not make any comments.”
The CoA met Shastri, Kohli and Rohit Sharma along with the selection panel. Rohit was there to talk about India’s performance in the Asia Cup, which the team won under his leadership. Communication breakdown was one of the primary subjects of discussions as it was extensively discussed after aggrieved players Murali Vijay and Karun Nair spoke openly about the “lack” of it.
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It was learned that the Australia series, starting next month, was extensively discussed with a focus on extra practice games as India A team would be on a shadow tour of New Zealand. Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara are expected to be playing crucial roles in the upcoming tours.
A BCCI official said, “We have been assured by New Zealand Cricket that their top A team players will turn up for four-day games. We have also been assured that wickets at Seddon Park in Hamilton will have a lot of bounce to replicate the Aussie conditions.”
The meeting also addressed the core issues like the code of conduct for centrally-contracted players, and requirement of extra support staff. Recently, Nair and Vijay expressed their concerns regarding the communication issues from either the selectors or the team management, an allegation emphatically denied by the chairman of selectors Prasad and Rai.
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While Prasad has said that his colleague Devang Gandhi has had a chat with concerned cricketers, captain Kohli decided not to comment on the issue. Vijay and Nair’s public statements on the selection committee were seen as a violation of the ‘Code of Conduct’ for the centrally-contracted cricketers.
