The decision regarding Shastri was revealed by Kris Srikkanth in the evening, soon after he emerged from the meeting of former captains, to a television channel. It is understood that Shastri has sought a day's time to respond.

Dravid's decision, revealed by sources in the BCCI, sets at rest speculation that he would give up the captaincy following the decision of Greg Chappell to not extend his contract as India coach.

In any case, the board had no alternative; handing the captaincy to Sachin Tendulkar would be seen in many quarters as a step back, though he appears to have the support of a large number of current India players.

In his interaction with the BCCI top brass today, Dravid is believed to have made three suggestions to improve the setup: a streamlined selection process, better team management with the appointment of a full-time team manager and a full-time media manager.

He said that the team left for the World Cup with high hopes but failed to do well, and accepted responsibility on the team's behalf for the poor performance which led to the early exit.