Kohli-Shastri duo to continue the pact despite criticism

Shastri, who took over as the head coach in July 2017 on a two-year contract, was a direct entry to the interview process that took place in Mumbai on August 16


Mrunmayi SapatnekarMrunmayi Sapatnekar | Updated: 19-08-2019 16:10 IST | Created: 19-08-2019 16:10 IST
Kohli-Shastri duo to continue the pact despite criticism
Image Credit: ANI
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For millions of Indians, things get personal when it is about cricket. And the cricket fans not just look out for the players but also for the person who is involved in continuous process of guiding, mentoring and coaching the team. The recent re-appointment of Ravi Shastri as the head coach of the Indian Cricket Team by the newly formed Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) led by Kapil Dev has been the talk of the town from past few days. 

Well, this was not unexpected. All of us already knew that the pick for the head coach of Indian Cricket team will be no other than Ravi Shastri and the BCCI stamped it. And when the fans got to know about the re-appointment of Ravi Shastri, the social media literally busted out on the CAC because there were many other candidates who were much better than Shastri in terms of experience and knowledge about the game and the three candidates who were shortlisted for this position were Tom Moody, Mike Hesson and at the top, it was Ravi Shastri.

Shastri, who took over as the head coach in July 2017 on a two-year contract, was a direct entry to the interview process that took place in Mumbai on August 16, 2019. Though this favoritism was ought to be given to him as he is already leading the team from the past two years.

Is BCCI really being fair?

This question has surely blown up the minds of millions after the news of the reappointment of Ravi Shastri as the head coach came in. Although, it is understandable why Ravi Shastri was given such priority while selection by Kapil Dev-led team. The coach has been with the team from the past two years, knows the team inside out, knows the way to connect with the players and most importantly he is well-versed with the entire system. Whereas, if someone new gets the appointment then he will have to start from scratch for everything.

Everything agreed, but that doesn’t mean that someone who is better deserving cannot be given this responsibility. A lot of things till date have been heard when it comes to Shastri-Kohli relationship. Kohli has always preferred Shastri as the head coach and even Kohli is favorite of his. It has always been observed that the skipper Kohli wants someone who will agree with whatever decision he takes and this scenario has been observed by the fans on many occasions.

Kohli-Kumble Saga

We all know what happened when Anil Kumble was appointed as the head coach of Indian Cricket team. The skipper Kohli and the other teammates were not happy with Anil Kumble’s intimating approach towards the game. It became obvious when Kumble didn’t get an automatic extension with the BCCI inviting application for the position.

Kumble follows strict rules and regulations and wanted his team to follow a strict regime when it came to the game and fitness as well. But it seemed that the players were not happy with this kind of attitude. There were even rumors that Virat Kohli would have resigned from captaincy if Anil Kumble didn't step down from the position of head coach.

Kumble was appointed as the head coach in 2016 after Ravi Shastri ended his tenure as Team Director. It was visible that from that time itself, Kohli started preferring Shastri over Kumble and this rift between the two got deeper with the time. And then Ravi Shastri was appointed as the head coach in 2017.

Though Kapil Dev made it very clear in the press conference that no opinion was taken from the skipper in regard to the appointment of the head coach as it was purely CAC’s decision. But we do not know what exactly goes inside the room as the CAC committee was very reluctant to disclose the details of the presentation given by Ravi Shastri during the interview process but the committee did mention that Shastri's presentation was all about numbers and the roadmap ahead for the Indian team. Therefore, nobody knows what exactly happened and the parameters at which he was appointed again as the coach. Kohli during one of the West Indies match conference gave a hint that he would like to have Ravi Shastri as the head coach again as he knows the team well and has a good repo.

Indian team under Ravi Shastri’s coaching

- India reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2015 and 2019 and the semis of WorldT20 in 2016.

- During his tenure, India has been ranked number one both in Tests and ODIs.

- The team won its first series in Australia in the 2018-19 season.

- Won the 2018 Asia Cup in UAE.

- During his tenure as Team Director and Head Coach, India played 12 Test series, won 7, lost 4 and drawn 1.

India is going to start with the World Test Championship by the end of August and will be aiming for T20 World Cup in 2021, and the capabilities of Ravi Shastri will be put to test again, and fans will be keeping a close eye as the majority of them are not happy with the re-appointment of Shastri as the head coach.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are the personal views of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Devdiscourse and Devdiscourse does not claim any responsibility for the same.)

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