CoA put contract drafts on hold. Will Zaheer Khan miss out?

Ravi Shastri and Zaheer Khan

The contract drafts for Zaheer Khan, Rahul Dravid and Bharat Arun have been put on hold by the Committee of Administrators (CoA), it was revealed on Thursday. This comes two days after the appointment of Ravi Shastri and Zaheer Khan as head coach and bowling consultant respectively.

The BCCI had earlier clarified that Zaheer Khan's role was purely on a tour-to-tour basis. Such a role was defined for Rahul Dravid previously.

The CoA has asked for the contract drafts when they will come together for a special meeting on Saturday. A BCCI official told The Times of India that currently it seems like Zaheer Khan would have difficulty accepting a consultant's role on a tour-to-tour basis. The official further stated that Ravi Shastri's Ravi Shastri's demand of having Bharat Arun as a full-time bowling coach doesn't feel like it will happen either.

The legal team of the BCCI is currently said to be working on the contracts.

Ravi Shastri was steadfast on having Bharat Arun as bowling coach, while he was previously serving as team director, despite Zaheer Khan's naming as bowling consultant by the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC). BCCI was unable to bring in Zaheer Khan last year as they were unwilling to pay his reported salary demand of Rs 4 crore.

According to BCCI sources, Zaheer Khan has been courted by the board for over a year and can make a decision whether he wishes to stay with the team full-time upon reading the contract. Zaheer is expected to travel with Team India in Sri Lanka next week.

Ravi Shastri had mentioned earlier that he felt entitled to choose his support staff and was not against having Zaheer Khan as bowling consultant. It is believed Shastri's was concerned regarding Zaheer's ability to devote 250 days a year for the team.

Ravi Shastri is expected to discuss the role of Team India's bowling coach with the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) members on Monday.