Ravi Shastri To Be In Charge Of Indian Team For England ODIs

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Mumbai: Ravi Shastri has been appointed director of cricket for the upcoming ODI series against England, while two other former India players - Sanjay Bangar and Bharat Arun - will assist him and Duncan Fletcher. According to a statement released by the BCCI, Fletcher will remain the head coach in the series while Shastri will be in charge of the affairs of the Indian team.
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Shastri, who was the interim coach for the tour to Bangladesh in 2007, was also the team manager in that series. The decision comes following India's 3-1 Test series defeat in England, where despite leading the five-match series 1-0 after two Test matches, India suffered three heavy losses on the trot, raising questions on the coaching staff that has now overseen India's fifth straight series defeat away from home.

The BCCI have, as a result, overhauled the coaching staff for the ODI series. The bowling coach, Joe Dawes and fielding coach, Trevor Penny, have been rested and have been replaced by Sanjay Bangar and Bharat Arun. Both will be the assistant coaches to Fletcher for the ODIs that are scheduled to begin from August 25th.

A BCCI statement said that Penney and Dawes were "given a break", following criticism of the Indian bowling and fielding during the Test series, where catches were frequently dropped and runs were leaked. "In their continuing efforts to re-energise the support to the team, the BCCI has given a break to the bowling coach Mr. Joe Dawes and the fielding coach, Mr. Trevor Penney, for the one-day series," the statement said.

Bangar, who was appointed coach of the Kings XI Punjab franchise ahead of the 2014 IPL, led the team to the final for the first time where they lost to the Kolkata Knight Riders. The former India allrounder retired from first-class cricket in early 2013 before taking up a coaching role with India A. Before the Kings XI Punjab appointment, Bangar had served on the coaching staff of various IPL teams.

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Former India fast bowler Bharat Arun, on the other hand, coached the Under-19 team during the recently-concluded Quadrangular series in Australia in 2012, and was part of the National Cricket Academy's coaching staff earlier.

In addition to Bangar and Arun, R Sridhar will join the team as a fielding coach. Sridhar was assistant coach of the side during the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year, and has worked as a fielding coach for the Kings XI Punjab.