The former India captain and coach is not part of the seven experts selected by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for a six-match series starting 6 February in Ahmedabad.
Sunil Gavaskar, L Sivaramakrishnan, Harsha Bhogle, Murali Kartik, Deep Dasgupta And Ajit Agarkar There are six Indians in the list of three ODIs, with West Indies’ Ian Bishop attending the Ahmedabad Games. The list will be one less (Sivarakrishnan) for the three Twenty20 Internationals in Kolkata.
Shastri, currently in Oman as commissioner of the Legends Cricket League in Muscat, could not be contacted for comment but sources close to him revealed that he could take a break. He will also not comment for the next home series against Sri Lanka in February-March.
“He has taken a conscious decision not to do commentary immediately until at least the IPL. He has a lot on the table and will be busy for two more months. After that he will consider it,” said a source close to him. Shastri, who coached India for seven years in two stints, is one of the biggest names when it comes to commentary. He was expected to take up the television mic soon after India’s tenure ended after the Twenty20 World Cup in November 2021.
Commentary assignments have always been controversial as BCCI officials exercise personal discretion in posting. Prominent in the matter is Sanjay Manjrekar, who has been consistently kept out of the BCCI panel of world feed commentators allegedly because of the Board President. Sourav Ganguly It has a long history with it.
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