In his final media interaction as India’s head coach, Ravi Shastri hails Sharma’s leadership qualities and points to his great captaincy success in the IPL
Rohit Sharma
Will the erstwhile Team India head coach Ravi Shastri be remembered for the things he failed to achieve rather than what he did? That depends on whether you see his glass as half full or half empty.
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There is little doubt that Shastri’s glass is not as full as a Patiala peg. Under him, Team India did win back-to-back Test series in Australia and are ahead in the five-match series in England, besides winning many bilateral series, but there will always be a blot on his CV of not having won a single ICC event. Beginning as Team Director during the 2015 World Cup in Australia, to the current T20 World Cup in UAE, the Men in Blue have fallen short each time.
Shastri, whose tenure ended with Team India’s failure to qualify for the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup, spoke to the media after the win over Namibia on Monday night. He had nothing but praise for the Virat Kohli-led team during his tenure. “They’re a great side. I’m telling you, I don’t say that too often. It’s one of the great sides to have played cricket at the highest level in the history of the game, when you look all around. So let’s not take anything away from that,” he said.
“Yes, It’s a very emotional day for me because I’ve been part of this team for seven years…for me to be part of that journey with the boys and for the boys to respond and raise the bar in that fashion leaves you going from the dressing room emotional, but a very proud man,” added Shastri.
From the looks of it, it seems this team was a little too obsessed about winning Tests in England and Australia rather than with winning an ICC title. Shastri, however, felt that’s not true. “For me, everything is important. If you’re playing a big tournament, a big series, you play to win. So it’s not happened this time, but it will happen another time for this team. They’re far too talented not to get something going or get a big trophy in the hands soon, especially the way they played white ball cricket in bilateral series. So, somewhere down the line, the rub of the green should go their way [in an ICC event too].”
‘A strong T20 team’
There is little doubt that India’s T20 team needs to improve under a new captain, especially looking ahead at the next World Cup. And Shastri is optimistic. “As far as the T20 team goes, I think we’ll always have a strong team. We might not have won this World Cup, but going forward, we’ll continue to have a strong team because the IPL throws a lot of young players into the mix. I think in Rohit [Sharma] you’ve got a very capable guy. He’s won so many IPLs. He’s the vice-captain of this side. He’s waiting in the wings to take that [captaincy] job.”
There is little doubt that the Shastri-Kohli combine leave behind a strong legacy for the incoming team management to take Indian cricket forward. “Look at the quality of cricket this team have played over the last five years across all formats. The performances are there for everyone to see. When you perform in that fashion where you go across the globe, across all formats and beat teams, then you know you’re part of one great cricket team. I’m not just saying that this is a great Indian cricket team, I’m saying this is one of the great cricket teams in the history of the game. Because if you look at those kinds of performances, they don’t happen often.
Fit, hungry and fearless
“You’ve got to have a bunch of players who are fit, hungry, fearless, have the quality, have the belief, and then to stay fit so you can play those five years together and go across the globe and perform everywhere,” Shastri explained.
Shastri hailed captain Kohli too. “With Virat leading the way, he’s been one of the great ambassadors of the game, especially when you look at red ball cricket, the way he’s embraced it. And it’s allowed other players in the team to follow suit. You’ve got to give credit where it’s due. So, it’s a team culture, which was impressed upon the team to follow, and they followed it to the hilt. They played fearless cricket round the globe,” Shastri concluded.
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