“No Better Person To Take Over After Me”: Ravi Shastri On Rahul Dravid

Former Team India coach Ravi Shastri had a successful tenure with the side under his reign. India dominated the overseas tournaments. The team won two Test series in Australia and they also clinched the series in England. However, the region where the side underperformed was the ICC tournaments. It’s been a while since India has won an ICC event and this was the major reason for which the BCCI sacked Shastri.

During a rain delay on Day 2 of the ongoing rescheduled fifth Test against England at Edgbaston, Birmingham, Shastri spoke in detail about his tenure and how Rahul Dravid is the right man after him to coach the senior side.

“I think it was very rewarding, it can be a thankless job because you are judged everyday of your life by 1.4 billion people only. There is no hiding away from it, there is nothing to hide behind. You face the bullet, performances matter day in and day out. You got to win. The expectations are big, but the way the boys responded, when I look back at my tenure, those seven years when I was there, I am proud that I had a team that responded in the fashion they did. When I did take over, they were not playing the best of cricket as those rankings will show but towards the end, they were right up there in all formats of the game,”

SHASTRI TOLD SKY SPORTS.

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“Rahul is a guy who has come through the system, he has done the hard yards.”- Ravi Shastri

“If anything, they did not win the World Cup in that tenure of mine but otherwise some amazing performances around the globe in different countries in red-ball cricket and white-ball cricket. But nothing beats those two back-to-back series wins in Australia. That is the icing on the cake then, of course, leading the series in England last year. The team took pride in playing red-ball cricket, Virat must be complimented for that. He led from the front, he wanted to play in that fashion, the fast-bowlers responded. You could see players evolving in that period of time, the Jadeja, Rishabh Pant,”

SHASTRI ADDED

While talking about Rahul Dravid, Shastri said:

“No better person to take over after me than Rahul, I got that job by mistake which I told Rahul. I was in the commentary box; I was asked to go there and I did my bit. But Rahul is a guy who has come through the system, he has done the hard yards. He has been the coach of the U-19 team and he has taken over this Indian team and I think he will enjoy it once the team starts responding.”

In 2014, Shastri became the director of the Indian cricket team. He was also the director of the team – first, for a brief stint in 2007 and then for two years starting in 2014. Initially, Shastri was appointed for eight months from India’s tour of England till the 2015 World Cup. Then Anil Kumble dawned the role of the head coach but after one year in 2017, Anil Kumble and Virat Kohli developed sour terms. Then in 2017, he was appointed as the head coach of the Indian cricket team.