MUMBAI: With new India head coach Ravi Shastri backing him, Bharat Arun looks set to take over as the bowling coach of the side, with a media report on Sunday even saying that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has already appointed him.

Interestingly, amidst this prevailing suspense and confusion over the appointment of Team India’s support staff, came a release from the India Cements Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) that Arun will coach the VB Thiruvallur Veerans – one of the teams of the Twenty20 tournament – in the upcoming edition, which will be held from July 22 to August 20. The side will have Test cricket’s leading wicket-taker, Muttiah Muralitharan, as its mentor.

When quizzed by TOI on whether he’d been signed up by the BCCI, Arun replied: “Not yet.” If and when he does join Team India, the former India pacer will have to end contracts in both the TNPL and the IPL, where he’s the bowling coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), as the new BCCI rules don’t allow for any conflict-of-interest issues.

“As of now, I’ve to carry on normally, isn’t it? If I do get the India job, I’ll leave both the TNPL and the RCB,” he said. Arun was also the Hyderabad coach last season, and though the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) officials are keen to extend his contract, the 54-year-old may have to let go of that job too, should he bag a BCCI contract.

Arun, batting legend Rahul Dravid (who was named as the batting consultant by the Cricket Advisory Committee) and retired pace ace Zaheer Khan (named as the bowling consultant) are now set to learn about their fate on Tuesday, when Shastri will meet a committee, which includes Committee of Administrators (CAO) member Diana Eduljee, BCCI acting president & secretary CK Khanna and Amitabh Chadhuary and CEO Rahul Johri. The meeting will happen in Mumbai at 2pm.