Indian coach selection: Cricket fraternity congratulates Ravi Shastri, Zaheer Khan for new roles

Ravi Shastri was named as the head coach of the Indian team by BCCI on Tuesday night while Zaheer Khan was named as the bowling coach.

New Delhi: After a day that saw plenty of drama, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) finally announced veteran Mumbai cricketer Ravi Shastri as the new head coach of the Indian cricket team on Tuesday night.

While Shastri, who was the front-runner for the top job, was named as head coach, veteran speedster Zaheer Khan was named as the bowling coach and Rahul Dravid would be Indian team's batting consultant while touring abroad.

Indian cricket fraternity congratulated the stalwarts for their new roles:

Mohammad Kaif‏: Having @ImZaheer as bowling coach is a fantastic move.Wish Team India good luck under Ravi Shastri .Hopefully d focus will be on cricket now.

Suresh Raina‏: Congratulations @ImZaheer @RaviShastriOfc & #RahulDravid. Best wishes for a successful tenure with #TeamIndia @BCCI. 

The decision was made a day after the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) announced their decision to hold back to the name of the new coach for some time. It was also reported that post Sourav Ganguly's announcement on Monday, Committee of Administrators (CoA) Chairman Vinod Rai spoke to BCCI officials and asked them to announce the name by Tuesday evening.

A veteran of 80 Tests and 150 One-Day Internationals (ODI), the 55-year-old Shastri had earlier served as the Team Director for India`s tour of England in 2014 to the 2016 World T20, where India lost to West Indies.

Shastri was overlooked last year and the CAC picked celebrated spinner and former skipper Anil Kumble for a one-year term. That term, however, ended on a controversial note after the last month`s ICC Champions Trophy in England.

(With IANS inputs)