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Anil Kumble’s support staff: Pravin Amre, Ravi Shastri and others in contention

Compared to Ravi Shastri and Sajay Bangar, Pravin Amre has more experience in the coaching arena. However, India needs someone who can hone their batsmen's skills in the longest format.

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Ravi Shastri with MS Dhoni during practice session © Getty Images

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced former India captain Anil Kumble as India’s new head coach, who will commence his duty from June 29 at India’s camp at National Cricket Academy (NCA). Kumble scalped 619 wickets in Tests and 337 in ODIs, Kumble is India’s highest wicket-taker in both formats of the game. Not only has he won matches with his superior bowling ability but also his wise and fearless leadership helped India scale new heights. Indeed, he played a pivotal role in India’s most successful era. However, in a press conference held at Dharamsala’s HPCA, BCCI President Anurag Thakur said that the board is yet to begin hunt for support staff. Read: Anil umble: Blend of knowledge, determination and commitment

Let’s walk through the coach stuff BCCI is likely to appoint.

Batting coach: Ravi Shastri/Pravin Amre/Sanjay Bangar

Shastri may have lost the race for head coach to Kumble, but his services as Team Director have been useful for the past two years. He helped India reach semi-finals of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 as well as ICC World T20 2016. As a matter of fact, he has been through India’s thick and thin, and is well accustomed to the team’s talent.

Shastri himself was considered one of India’s talismanic all-rounders. He accumulated 3,830 runs at 35.79 and 3,108 at 29.04 in Tests and ODIs respectively. Moreover, he has 280 wickets to his name across all the formats, and barring Kapil Dev, he is the only Indian to do the 2,000 run-100 wicket double in both formats.

Amre, on the other hand, has worked a lot at grassroot level. Though he played only 48 matches for India, he has been playing the coach’s role ever since he called it a day from international cricket. He was the coach of the Indian side that clinched the U-19 World Cup 2012. He also coached Mumbai in Ranji trophy, and has worked as assistant coach for IPL sides Pune Warriors India and Delhi Daredevils.

The third candidate is Sanjay Bangar, who has been coaching Indian batsmen since August 2014. Moreover, he has coached India A, and has been batting coach of Kochi Tuskers Kerala and the coach of Kings XI Punjab. Read: Anil Kumble first Indian coach since Kapil Dev

Compared to Shastri and Bangar, Amre has more experience in the coaching arena. But, when it comes to batting skills, Bangar is technically sounder that the other two. However, India needs someone who can hone their batsmen’s skills in the longest format.

Bowling coach: Venkatesh Prasad/Bharat Arun

Prasad was one of the 57 applicants who applied for the job. His experience in coaching is as rich as Amre’s. He was part of the Indian team that reached the final of U-19 World Cup 2006. Nevertheless, the highlight of his career was when he was the bowling coach of the the Indian team that lifted the maiden ICC World T20 trophy.

Prasad and Kumble played a lot of cricket together in the late 1990s. Thus, they are well aware of each other’s work ethics.

Arun, on the other, has been India’s bowling coach for past few seasons. Like Shastri, he has been through India’s bumpy ride in the shorter formats. Given his contract was not extended, his chances of being appointed as the bowling coach seem remote. Read: Prasad: Wouldn’t have applied if I knew Kumble was in race

Fielding coach: Robin Singh/Ramakrishnan Sridhar

Robin was one of India’s most athletic fielders in the 1990s. With him stationed at point, batsman found it difficult to score runs square of the wicket. His strength earned him the role of India’s fielding coach from 2007 till 2009. He was also head coach of Deccan Chargers, and is currently the batting coach of Mumbai Indians.

Sridhar, on the other hand, was India’s fielding coach until the recently concluded India tour of Zimbabwe. He has helped the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and others to display superlative athletic skills on the field. Given this, he is likely to retain the fielding coach role.

(Kaustubh S. Mayekar, a reporter at CricketCountry, played cricket at U-16 level. Like his idol Rahul Dravid, he often shadow-practises cricket shots. His Twitter handle is @kaumedy_)

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