Mumbai: Former India Team Director Ravi Shastri, who lost out the race to be India’s head coach to another former India captain Anil Kumble, has resigned from the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) cricket committee on Friday.
“I have already submitted my resignation. There are personal commitments and I have been there for six years,” Shastri told PTI on Friday without further elaborating anything. This comes at a time when both Shastri and Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) member Sourav Ganguly are exchanging verbal blows on a daily basis.
Following Shastri’s allegation that Ganguly should have been present there when his interview was going on, instead of leaving for Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) working committee meeting, Ganguly attacked the ex-coach saying Shastri should have been physically present for the interview instead of holidaying in Bangkok.
Now, the official version of Shastri is that he has so many other commitments — Television commentary, expert and columnist — and so cannot continue in the panel as a media representative. But people in the know have put forward a different theory.
According to board insiders, the former India all-rounder may have not come to term with his rejection for India head coach’s post. “Just like Sourav, Ravi is also an emotional man at one level. He is yet to come to terms with rejection. Since he became a media representative as BCCI nominee, probably, he is not willing to continue in that post. Also with Kumble expressing his opinion to continue as chairman, it might just be uncomfortable for both of them to sit in a meeting,” a BCCI source was quoted as saying by news agency PTI on Friday.
Having served the committee for last six years, currently headed by none other than Kumble, there were also reports that Shastri wanted to infuse some young blood into the committee and so stepped aside to make way for fresh faces. Apparently, he wanted to shoulder lesser administrative responsibilities by relinquishing the post.