Captain and coach should have a say in team selection: Shastri

Especially if the coach is experienced enough, like I was and now how Rahul Dravid is, Shastri told Star Sports.Head coach is part of selection panel in Australia and England.

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri believes that the coach and the captain should have a say in the national team selection.

A captain sits in the selection committee to give his inputs but decision-making power lies with the five-member selection panel while the coach doesn't have a seat on the table. ''I think it is extremely important that the captain and the coach should have a say in team selection. I think going forward, both should officially have a say. Especially if the coach is experienced enough, like I was and now how Rahul (Dravid) is,'' Shastri told Star Sports.

The head coach is part of the selection panel in Australia and England. According to Shastri, himself a former India all-rounder and former Mumbai captain, the skipper must get to see the mindsets of the selectors.

''It should happen in a meeting - not on the phone or outside - where the captain is there so that he gets to see the mindsets of the selectors. ''What happens in the meeting when the convenor is there, all the big boys are there – he should be in that meeting,'' added the 59-year-old.

Legendary Rahul Dravid has taken over as the coach of the India team from the last home series against New Zealand, succeeding Shastri.