The heated relationship between former India captain Sourav Ganguly and the new team India head coach Ravi Shastri came to the forefront last year during the selection of the head coach. And still, the relationship looks heated and nothing changed between them.

The responsibility of selecting the coach for the Indian team falls on the Cricket Advisory Committee which comprises of Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, and VVS Laxman. On Monday, the panel interviewed five applicants Shastri, Virender Sehwag, Tom Moody, Richard Pybus and Lalchand Rajput.

Finally, Ravi Shastri was appointed as the new head coach of Team India. Ravi Shastri may have won this time but Ganguly has not lost everything. On Tuesday, even as Shastri was appointed chief coach of Team India, there was a lot of hectic lobbying for the appointment of support staff.

Though Ganguly lost on the first count, he managed to get his close confidant and former speedster Zaheer Khan as team’s bowling consultant. And the surprise factor in the last minute was another former skipper and current coach of the U-19 national team, Rahul Dravid as batting consultant for Test matches overseas.

Dravid’s role may prove to be crucial as India is slated to play mostly away matches in the next 20 months.

The argument between Ganguly and Ravi Shastri was the selection of the bowling coach. If reports are to be believed, there were quite a few arguments with regards to the selection of the bowling coach. Both Shastri and Ganguly had different opinions of who should be appointed as the bowling coach.

Ravi Shastri wanted Bharat Arun to be appointed as the bowling coach till the 2019 World Cup, while Zaheer Khan, who eventually was chosen for the post. This led to the heated argument between Ganguly and Shastri.

While Shastri was clear in his choice of going with tried and tested Bharat Arun, who was in the team during his last stint as team director. Shastri’s case became stronger as he had the backing of captain Virat Kohli in this regard. The skipper is said to have conveyed that he has no objection if Khan is hired as a consultant for shorter durations than being with the team on a full-time basis.

It was Sachin Tendulkar who reportedly convinced Shastri during the course of the Champions Trophy in London to apply for this job. Despite Ganguly-Shastri known hatred, it was Kohli’s vote that mattered most in the final outcome. Kohli had spoken about his wish to see Shastri as the coach then. Shastri also enjoys the confidence of almost all the young brigade of Team India.

As for now, Shastri’s first major assignment will be the tour to Sri Lanka towards the end of this month. Since he shares a very good and friendly relationship with Indian captain Virat Kohli, one can expect a good partnership between the coach and captain for the next two years.