Vikram Rathour replaces Bangar as Indian Cricket team batting coach, Arun, Sridhar retained
Mumbai, Aug 22: Former opener Vikram Rathour will be replacing Sanjay Bangar as India's new batting coach while Bharath Arun and R Sridhar were expectedly retained as bowling and fielding coaches respectively.
The senior national selection committee headed by MSK Prasad has recommended three names each for all the support staff positions and the top names in each category will be appointed after the formalities with regards to Conflict of Interest declaration is complete.
The 50-year-old Rathour, has played 6 Tests and 7 ODIs in 1996 without much success but was a domestic heavyweight for Punjab. He till few years back (2016) was a senior national selector under Sandeep Patil's chairmanship.
Bharath Arun
R Sridhar
He had earlier applied for NCA batting consultant and U-19 batting coach's position but his application was put on hold as his brother-in-law Ashish Kapoor is the chairman of U-19 selection committee.
"Vikram Rathour has got enough experience and we are convinced with his skill sets (as a coach). We will ask him to declare if he has any conflict," BCCI CEO Rahul Johri told reporters.
As per the recommendations of the selection committee, current incumbent Sanjay Bangar came second while former England batsman Mark Ramprakash was third.
"The team management had their own views but looking ahead, we felt there should be some freshness in the support staff," Johri said.
Former Mumbai Indians physio Nitin Patel, who was part of the support staff during the 2011 campaign, was back while Englishman Luke Woodhouse was appointed as the strength and conditioning (trainer) coach.
The other notable candidate to lose his job was incumbent administrative manager Sunil Subramaniam, who was removed for his alleged misbehaviour with top diplomats of the Indian government during the ongoing tour of West Indies.
Subramaniam was replaced by Girish Dongre.
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Kangana Ranaut shown black flags in Himachal's Lahaul and Spiti, BJP files complaint with CEO
Shimla, May 20: Actor Kangana Ranaut, BJP candidate from the Mandi parliamentary constituency, was shown black flags by local people and Congress workers at Kaza in Lahaul and Spiti on Monday.
The Himachal Pradesh BJP filed a complaint with the state chief electoral officer (CEO) demanding transfer of election officials and an investigation into the incident as both the BJP and the Congress were given permission to hold rallies adjacent to each other.
The Congress workers raised anti-Kangana slogans - "Kangana, go back, Kangana Vangana nahi chalegi". They were apparently enraged over her remarks on Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama in April last year.
Ranaut had tweeted a meme featuring the Dalai Lama that said, "The Dalai Lama receives a warm welcome at the White house". The photoshopped picture in the tweet showed the Dalai Lama sticking his tongue out with US President Joe Biden with a comment - Both of them have the same illness, definitely they could be friends.
Following this, a group of Buddhists staged a dharna outside her office in Mumbai.
Later she apologised saying she didn't mean to hurt anyone, and it was a harmless joke about Biden being friends with the Dalai Lama.
Leader of the Opposition in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Jai Ram Thakur, who had accompanied Ranaut to Kaza to campaign for the BJP, on Monday alleged that the Congress workers tried to disturb the meeting of the BJP and pelted stones on their carcade while they were returning.
Talking to reporters, he said, "It is unfortunate that for the first time, permission was given to hold a parallel rally at the venue to the Congress where prior permission was already granted to the BJP to hold the rally.
Efforts were made to disturb our rally and the Congress workers raised shameful slogans, stopped our carcade and pelted stones, injuring one person."
Thakur added that they go for campaigning all over the state but such things have happened for the first time, which shows "frustration" of the Congress and they would take up the issue with the Election Commission.
Later, in a complaint filed with the Himachal Pradesh CEO, BJP state office secretary Parmod Kumar Thakur said the Congress workers allegedly tried to illegally restrain the political procession and even pelted stones and demanded an investigation into the incident.
"The district administration granted permission for organising a political meeting to the Congress adjacent to the place already scheduled to hold a political meeting of the BJP at Kaza under undue influence of the state government in utter violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC)", he said.
In the complaint, the BJP demanded the immediate transfer of election officials from Lahaul and Spiti and said giving permission to both the parties at the same location at the same time was a "big lapse" on the part of the Election Commission "in spite of the fact that permission to the BJP was provided first and the officers involved in this act are biased against the BJP, and free and fair elections are doubtful under the circumstances."
Lahaul and Spiti SP Mayank Chowdhary told PTI that workers of both the BJP and the ruling Congress came face to face but there was no clash and no person was injured. However, one worker sprained his leg, he added.
Bhishan Shashni, Congress election coordinator for Lahaul and Spiti claimed that the Congress workers were peacefully protesting but a large number of people, who were hurt by Ranaut's remarks about the Tibetan spiritual leader, joined the protest.
Earlier, Congress candidate from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat Vikramaditya Singh had asked why Ranaut did not visit Spiti and returned from Reckong Peo alleging that she was afraid she would be shown black flags for her remarks against the Dalai Lama.
