BCCI retain the services of Sanjay Bangar and R Sridhar for the Champions Trophy

The Board of Control for Cricket in India have decided to go ahead and retain the services of batting coach Sanjay Bangar and fielding coach R Sridhar for the upcoming Champions Trophy. Their contracts had officially concluded in the month of March, where India concluded their series against Australia, and it was speculated that there would change in the system.

Although the BCCI retained both of their services, there will be a change in the support staff with the familiar Kapil Malhotra taking over from the current team manager Anil Patel. Kapil Malhotra previously served as the team manager for the tour down under last year.

“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 bringing in annual contracts for all BCCI-appointed coaches, which will also mean they can’t be linked with an IPL franchise from next season and their services will be only restricted to the national team, which might come as a cost for the coaches.

Sanjay Bangar, in particular, has had a strong influence on the Virat Kohli and co since becoming an integral part of the dressing room in 2014. Indian skipper Kohli had previously heaped praises on the former Railways all-rounder for the way he dealt with the Indian batsmen, after joining the team during the Test against Bangladesh in Hyderabad.

“I think all the batsmen apply a lot of thought. They put in a lot of effort. They want to excel and they want to breach their own benchmark. They are in their quest for excellence. Our job is to just give them some pointers so that they remain on the right track,” Bangar had said then.

It was in Bangar’s era that Indian batsmen found the runs flowing and had a tremendous home season. In the lengthy and successful home season, it was Bangar’s way of coaching the techniques which helped the Indian batsmen to become prolific run-scorers in World Cricket.

“A lot of batsmen have gone back to narrower stance purely because mobility is a crucial aspect in batsmanship. That is a crucial factor and we being Indians using feet has always been our strength and going over the top and not being afraid lofting the spinners. We are always sending the message to spinners that we are coming at you has always been a strength of Indian batsmanship, over a number of years,” he had said in that regard back in February.

Meanwhile, fielding coach Sridhar went about his business unnoticed only for the performances on the field to improve drastically. Gone are the days when Indian quick bowlers lacked the aggression while attacking the ball on the field. Champions Trophy would be the ultimate tests for the coaches, as India began their preparation to defend the title.