‘No appropriate replies’ – Sanjay Bangar grilled for over an hour in interview

As India continue their search for the new support coaching staff, incumbent batting coach Sanjay Bangar faced a tough time in the interviews. Bangar and other coaches’ contracts will end after the ongoing tour of West Indies. The contract was set to end after the World Cup before the BCCI handed a 45-day extension.

Ravi Shastri has been already re-appointed as the head coach by the Cricket Advisory Committee. India are now looking to rope in new bowling, batting and fielding coach. As per media reports, Bangar is the likeliest of coaches to lose his job and the signs are not promising for him at the moment.

According to the Telegraph, Bangar was grilled for more than an hour on Tuesday evening. The senior selection committee, led by MSK Prasad, is conducting the interviews in Mumbai. Bangar’s position has been under scrutiny since India’s World Cup semi-final loss to New Zealand last month. The news outlet has claimed that Bangar was questioned mainly on his failure to build a settled batting line-up despite being in the role for more than two years.

His failure to find a solid No. 4 batsman in the limited-overs format and the decision to send MS Dhoni at No. 7 in the semi-final in Manchester took up most of the time. As per reports, last year’s Cape Town Test, where India failed to chase 208 and lost by 72 runs also came up for discussion. He was also asked about the reason for dropping Cheteshwar Pujara for the Edgbaston Test in 2018, which India lost by 31 runs.

“The World Cup dominated the discussions during the close to 90 minutes of grilling. Bangar couldn’t come up with appropriate replies for most of the questions,” a source told the news outlet.

Vikram Rathour front-runner

With Bangar now likely to leave the Indian camp, Vikram Rathour has been tipped to become India’s new batting coach. Rathour came up with a good presentation to bolster his chances. Former India batsman and coach of Ajinkya Rahane, Praveen Amre could also emerge as a strong candidate.

Meanwhile, bowling coach Bharat Arun is likely to keep his place, Abhay Sharma is most likely to take the fielding coach role. The report also stated that former India physio Nitin Patel may take over the role left vacant by Patrick Farhart.