Ravi Shastri named India's interim coach for Bangladesh tour

New Delhi, Jun 2: Former India captain Ravi Shastri was on Tuesday retained as the Director of the Indian team for the upcoming series against Bangladesh.

Shastri, who served as Team Director during the tour of Australia and the subsequent World Cup earlier this year, is a stop-gap arrangement for the short tour as the BCCI is yet to decide on a full-time coach to replace Duncan Fletcher, whose contract has ended.

BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur said Sanjay Bangar will be India's batting coach, while Bharat Arun and R Sridhar will continue as the bowling and fielding coaches, respectively. Biswaroop Dey was also named the team's administrative manager.

"BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya has named Ravi Shastri as interim coach of the Indian team. This is for the Bangladesh tour and future decisions will be taken after this," BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur said.

The team for Bangladesh will leave on June 6 with the first Test match starting on June 10. India play one Test match and 3 ODIs during their Bangladesh tour.

Shastri represented India in 80 Tests and 150 ODIs for India and was part of the side, which lifted the 1983 World Cup.

Shastri had travelled with the Indian team to Bangladesh in 2007 as cricket manager after Greg Chappell resigned from India coach's duty following the World Cup debacle that year.

Bangar, Arun and Sridhar have been with the team since last year's ODI leg of the England tour.

Earlier, three of the stalwarts of Indian cricket - Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Gagnuly and VVS Laxman - have agreed to be part of a BCCI advisory committee, a decision tweeted by Thakur on Monday and later confirmed by the board's official press release.

The advisory committee was set up to guide the Board and the national team on various "progressive steps" needed for future challenges.

The panel will have its first meeting in Kolkata with president Jagmohan Dalmiya and secretary Anurag Thakur before the Indian team departs for Bangladesh.

"The meeting will be held on June 4th or 5th tentatively. The committee will meet the president and secretary to chalk out the blueprint for moving ahead," a source told PTI on Monday.

It is likely that Dalmiya and Thakur would seek the trio's opinion on the appointment of support staff for the national team.

Ganguly, who is also the secretary of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), is in Kolkata, and Laxman will also be in the city for CAB's Vision 2020 project.