Published: May 10, 2017, 02:40 PM (IST)
Edited: May 10, 2017, 02:40 PM (IST)
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to retain the services of batting coach Sanjay Bangar and fielding coach R Sridhar for the Champions Trophy to be played in England next month. Their contracts had expired in March this year after the completion of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2016-17. They were scheduled to come up for official discussion again in June. But with Team India embarking on their title defence later this month, the board has decided to retain them for the tournament and discuss about their future term later. Kapil Malhotra, who was with the team during their limited-overs tour to Australia last year, will take over from Anil Patel as the team manager for the tournament.
“It is decided that the support staff will remain the same at the Champions Trophy with the only change being Kapil Malhotra taking over as manager. Bangar and Sridhar have been asked to extend their services for the duration of the tournament and then it will be decided what needs to be done,” BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary told The Indian Express. The committee of administrators (COA) has spoken about introducing annual contracts for all BCCI-appointed coaches, which will also mean they cannot be linked with an IPL franchise from next season.
Bangar has been with the team since mid-2014 and has enjoyed a good tenure. During this period, he has also bonded well with the Team India players and understood them better, the results of which have reflected on their performances on the field. At the same time, Sridhar has brought in a fresh perspective on fielding during his stint with the Indian team. He was briefly replaced by Abhay Sharma for the tours to Zimbabwe and West Indies last year, but returned at the start of the home season.
