This recent trend of flowing in every wave without caring about what lies ahead has been a dangerous one and Indians have been immersed neck-deep in the same. One makes a whisper and that turns into a booming echo over the nation. Everyone starts fuelling it without even questioning why exactly was this voice raised. Let aside understanding, the comments that back those skewed opinions are nothing short of sheer hatred and somewhere some trolling post on social media that they must have seen. One of the primary victims of such nuisance behaviour has been the Indian cricket team’s head coach, Ravi Shastri.
Constantly being trolled on social media, he has still managed to be one of India’s tactical think tank that still sees them as one of the leading powerhouses in cricket. It is surprising to see that a cricketer who once dedicated everything to the nation and now being shouldered with the onus of leading this team from the sidelines is subjected to so much unruly behaviour from a bunch of self-proclaimed cricketing zealots who’s the last reach on the game stays confined to posting something bombastic on Facebook.
We will be delving into five reasons why Shastri has been doing a commendable job as the coach of the Indian cricket team’s gaffer.
He was chosen by the best
Ravi Shastri was not a crucible who was handed over the job of coaching Team India by a bunch of inexperienced fellows who spent half of their career warming the benches. He was chosen by the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) that comprised three of India’s most eminent cricketing personalities, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, and VVS Laxman. Before he was appointed as the head coach, he was the team director.
Now, when you get chosen for the nation by the nation’s very best, there must be something that you have in you. It seemed even more difficult for Shastri because he was going to fill in the boots of Anil Kumble who had a pretty good term with the Indian cricket team. Let’s add another spoon of tiff to this scenario, and it states that Shastri was supposed to take over the reins of the team when the players were in utter disarray given the ongoing gulf between them and the management.
Youngsters started having the doors open to them
There was a point in time when Australia used to adhere to a rule of admitting only those players who were at least the age of 25 and that are how they created the invincible, a team that conquered the world twice. However, once the stars from the sky started falling one by one, they didn’t have ample replacement and the team landed hard on its face. It was a tragic scene for the Australian chauvinists who couldn’t see their favourite team crumbling like dust. This could have also been India’s case.
However, thanks to Dhoni and Kohli who were backed by Ravi Shastri to onboard the young talents in the national squad and give them an existence of their own. From grooming the likes of Bumrah to honing Pandya into a ruthless all-rounder, Shastri voiced out his opinion about bringing in the likes of Varun Chakravarthy, Mayank Agarwal, and Shubman Gill to Australia to face the formidable Australian brigade. You may not like him to be honest, but the man carries the baton of India’s glittering future legacy.
Knows how to keep the dressing room under control
The Indian cricket team is one of the most star-studded teams in the world at the moment and whenever there are too many stars in the sky, collisions are a prosaic scene. However, until his chaperonage, the team has never slipped out any major tiffs for the media to hound on. In fact, the atmosphere in the dressing room has always been filled with laughter and happiness. Maintaining the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the same dressing room without a single altercation needs a lot more than man-management.
Knows how to bite the bullet
India has seen several lows during the entire tenure of Ravi Shastri. The man has undergone severe criticism and yet has refused to bow down to the pressure. He never came up with excuses and silently accepted the defeat only to come back stronger. It was under his very tutelage that the Indian team chronicled one of their most historic Test series wins in Australia. The man has taught the cricketers to keep their chin up high and smile, irrespective of the circumstances.
India has rarely seen a vocal tonic like him
Being an illustrious commentator in the past, Ravi Shastri’s pep talks are indeed worth hearing. Just to rekindle an old memory, he bashed Mike Denness for his weird oddity against India in a test match that saw the duel of India and South Africa. He doesn’t like to hold back. He is a man of character and ensured the fact that he is handing over his critique a Roland for an Oliver.
