Dravid retained as captain
Matt Pitt |The BCCI has revealed that Rahul Dravid will remain as captain of India for their next three tours, whilst also instigating several changes to the way Team India will approach their cricket in the coming months.
The appointment of Ravi Shastri as coach for their upcoming series against Bangladesh was already known, along with those of Robin Singh as fielding coach and Venkateh Prasad as bowling coach. However, there was some doubt over whether Dravid was to retain his captaincy.
There has also been a move to address certain comments made by senior players in the media, with Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh asked to explain their statements in full. This comes after some of India’s senior players questioned former coach Greg Chappell’s leadership after their exit from the tournament, which followed defeats to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
The BCCI has also addressed a number of other issues in its statement, which it hopes will help Indian cricket to move forward in the coming months and years, with a view to a far better performance at the 2011 World Cup.
Here is the text of the BCCI’s press release in full:
Mr. Niranjan Shah, Hon. Secretary, BCCI has announced in his press release decisions taken at the Working Committee meeting of the BCCI held on 7 th April 2007.
1. With a view to strengthen domestic cricket, efforts will be made to ensure that all Test / ODI Cricketers play Irani, Duleep, Challenger and some Ranji Trophy Matches.
2. Every Association will be directed to prepare fast and lively wickets for domestic tournaments.
3. BCCI will do away with Home and Away rotation and allot venues for Irani Trophy, Duleep Trophy, Deodhar Trophy, Ranji Trophy Semi-finals and Finals and One-day All India Knockout.
4. It was decided that all affiliated units should start their own State Academies by April 2009. These Academies would be linked to the National Cricket Academy for the purpose of uniformity in coaching.
5. It was decided to scrap the present Zonal representation in the Senior and Junior Selection Committees. BCCI will appoint selectors on a full time basis based upon the eligibility criteria which would include stature as a player, selection experience etc. They will be remunerated suitably and appointed for a two-year term. The BCCI will take steps to propose necessary amendments to the Constitution to give effect to the above decision.
6. Regular and frequent Under-19 and India A tours to Australia / England / New Zealand / South Africa / West Indies will be undertaken.
7. The Working Committee has directed the Selection Committee to send a young team to Bangladesh under an experienced captain. The selection committee, after discussions has appointed Rahul Dravid as captain for India’s tour to Bangladesh, Ireland and England.
8. BCCI will appoint a permanent manager for the Indian team for a two-year term. The Board will also appoint a permanent Media Manager for a two- year term.
9. Notice will be issued to Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh under Rule 38 of the Memorandum and the Rules and Regulations of the Board asking for an explanation for their comments made to the media.
10. Working Committee approved the Performance-based Payment to the players and decided to do away with the present gradation for Retainership. Apart from the payment, the following points would form a part of the contract.
A player will endorse not more than 3 sponsors / products
No Sponsor can contract more than 2 players.
The players will not be allowed to do any sponsor-related events 15 days before the tour and also during the tour.
Before every tour, all the contracted players have to undergo a fitness test and only those who fulfill the benchmarks will be considered for selection.
No player shall have exclusive contracts with electronic or print media. Only the captain can write a column or talk to the media but not exclusively.
The players shall take prior approval of the Board before signing any endorsement contract and will submit a copy of the agreement to the Board. All the players shall submit a copy of the existing contracts with sponsors to the Board.
All the players will have to play a stipulated number of domestic matches when not playing for India.
In the event of injury to the player, the Board will compensate him the match fees that he would have earned for a maximum period of six months.
11. The Working Committee decided to form a Cricket Advisory committee consisting of the following ex – captains: Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, MAK Pataudi, Chandu Borde, Ravi Shastri, Krish Srikkanth and S Venkataraghavan under the Chairmanship of President [Sharad Pawar] and will include all the Office Bearers.
12. The working committee appointed Ravi Shastri as Cricket Manager for the India’s tour to Bangladesh. It was further decided that Venkatesh Prasad will be the bowling coach and Robin Singh, the fielding coach for the tour.
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