India’s Tour to Australia 2018–19: Committee of Administrators to Meet Ahead of Tour Down Under; Communication Gap & Other Issues to Be Discussed!

New Delhi, October 9: The communication issues between players and selectors and a roadmap for the tour of Australia will top the agenda when the Committee of Administrators (COA) meets India's chief coach Ravi Shastri and captain Virat Kohli along with the selection panel on Wednesday. The meeting, which is scheduled in Hyderabad, will also address a few core issues like the code of conduct for centrally-contracted players, and requirement of extra support staff. India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane will also be a part of the deliberations. Murali Vijay After Getting Excluded From Tests, ‘None of the Selectors Spoke to Me After I Was Dropped’.

The big issue will be the communication channel between the team management, selectors and discarded players. Recently, Karun Nair and Murali Vijay went on record stating that there was "no communication" from either the selectors or the team management, an allegation emphatically denied by the chairman of selectors MSK Prasad and COA chief Vinod Rai.

While Prasad has said that his colleague Devang Gandhi has spoken to the concerned players, Indian captain Virat Kohli refrained from making any comments on the issue. However, Vijay and Nair's public statements on the selection committee are being considered a violation of the 'Code of Conduct' for the centrally-contracted players. Virat Kohli on Karun Nair's Exclusion from India Vs West Indies Test Series: 'Everything is Not Happening from One Place!'

"Obviously, the matter will be raised at the meeting. The BCCI has maintained that Vijay is not giving the true picture. Gandhi explained the position of selectors to Vijay in presence of team manager Sunil Subramanium," a BCCI official told PTI today. It is unlikely that any decision on skipper Kohli's request to have the wives of players and support staff being allowed for the full duration of overseas tours being sanctioned immediately.

The main issue will be preparation for the tour of Australia that starts with a three-match T20 series on November 21. But the main discussion will be centred around the four-Test series beginning December 6 in Adelaide. The Indian team management has already asked for an extra tour game before the first Test in order to prepare better. BCCI Unlikely to Implement RTI; Says ‘It’s Not a Government Body’.

Cricket Australia had responded positively to the request and are in the process of arranging an extra tour game. Some of the Test specialists like Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara are expected to travel to New Zealand with India A team in order to get ready for the Australia series.

There are talks of having a specialist spin bowling coach with the Indian team as the slow bowlers have struggled outside the sub-continent. Names like Laxman Sivaramakrishnan and current NCA coach Narendra Hirwani are doing rounds in case the COA gives the go-ahead to appoint a new spin bowling consultant.

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