Ravi Shastri resigns from ICC Cricket Committee; Anil Kumble to continue as its chief

In a new development, Shastri has quit as the media representative of ICC Cricket Committee, which interestingly, is headed by the new Team India coach Anil Kumble.

The entire saga of finding Team India’s new head coach, which made news for all the wrong reasons after a public spat between one of the aspirants Ravi Shastri and one of the selectors Sourav Ganguly, has hit the headlines once again with the former now quitting from ICC’s prestigious Cricket Committee. Shastri, who served as Indian team’s director till the ICC World T20 2016, was apparently hurt by the rejection from Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) for the coach’s role. ALSO READ: Ganguly-Shastri row: Ravi Shastri finds support in Bishan Singh Bedi while Gautam Gambhir blasts the former team director.

He even took on Ganguly, who reportedly skipped Shastri’s interview, but had to face severe criticism from all quarters for doing so. In a new development, Shastri has quit as the media representative of ICC Cricket Committee, which interestingly, is headed by the new Team India coach Anil Kumble. His move has added fuel to the fire, suggesting all is not well between the top brass of Indian cricket. ALSO SEE: Watch Sourav Ganguly hitting back at Ravi Shastri; even Twitter reacted to this ugly episode

“I have already submitted my resignation. There are personal commitments and I have been there for six years,” Shastri told PTI today without further elaborating anything. The reason given by him is his busy schedule as a commentator, TV expert and columnist, but there is intense speculation that the former all-rounder may have resigned as he is yet to come to terms with rejection that led to a widely publicised spat with Ganguly. ALSO READ: Ravi Shastri’s verbal volleys continue; lashes out at “disrespectful” Sourav Ganguly.

“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 told PTI while commenting on the development.

Shastri, who appeared for the interview from Bangkok where he was holidaying, had termed Ganguly’s absence “disrespectful” to which the former captain had responded by saying that Shastri was “living in fool’s world”. “If Ravi was so serious about the job, he should have been in Kolkata for interview rather than appearing through Skype while holidaying in Bangkok,” Ganguly had said. However, as it happened, it was former Australian cricketer Tom Moody whom Kumble piped for the coveted post, and not Shastri.