Ravi Shastri says that it is an honor and privilege to be retained as the head coach

Ravi Shastri on Saturday was reappointed as the head coach of the Indian Cricket Team for a period of two more years till 2021. This decision was taken unanimously by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appointed Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising of 1983 World Cup winning skipper Kapil Dev, Former India Coach Anshuman Geakwad and Former India women's skipper Shantha Rangaswamy. In his first interview after being reappointed, Ravi Shastri said that it is 'an honor and privilege' to continue for 26 more months.

In the video posted by the BCCI on Twitter, Ravi Shastri thanked the CAC members. He said, "I would first like to thank the CAC i.e Shantha, Kapil and Anshuman for having faith in me for continuing for another 26 months. It is a privilege and honor to be a part of the Indian team set-up."

After being retained as Head Coach, Ravi Shastri listed out the challenges ahead & his future plans for #TeamIndia. Interview by @28anand

"The reason I came in here was because I had this belief in the team. I had belief that they could leave a legacy that very few teams have left behind in the years to come. Not just for the moment that they are playing but at the end of it all a kind of legacy that the other teams, going down decades, will want to try and emulate."

The other candidates in fray were former New Zealand Coach Mike Hesson, Tom Moody, Robin Singh and Lalchand Rajput. Phil Simmons opted out of the process citing personal reasons. The CAC asked the candidates to present their road map for the Indian Cricket Team going forward and marked them on various aspects. They were - coaching philosophy, experience, achievements, communication and knowledge of modern coaching tools.

Under Ravi Shastri, Team India reached the semifinals of the 50 over World Cup, won a Test series in Australian soil for the first time ever and also reached the number one spot in the ICC Test rankings.