India’s head coach Ravi Shastri has enjoyed an eventful stint with the Indian side as the head coach of the side. He shares a very strong bond with the Indian skipper Virat Kohli over the years. Together, both Virat and Ravi have become a force to reckon with across all three formats and have faced many ups and downs for the Indian side.
The former all-rounder, Ravi Shastri was appointed as the full-time head coach of the Indian side in the year 2017, taking over from Anil Kumble after India’s loss in the final of the Champions Trophy 2017 final against Pakistan and since then there has been no turning back for the head coach. Earlier, he was working as the director of team India.
On Wednesday, Virat Kohli expressed his relationship with head coach Ravi Shastri. At the book launch event, Virat said Shastri’s experience with the team is priceless and recalled the instance of Shastri, who was the team’s director in 2014, giving them a pep talk. Later in 2017, when Kohli and then head coach Anil Kumble had a dispute, Shastri replaced the former leg-spinner after the latter resigned. He said:
“His experiences have been priceless for us and they continue to be. I will say a few words about our working relationship, our bond over the years. Started in 2014, I met him many times because he was the most prominent voice in cricket from India and worldwide. We always look forward to his commentary skills. We actually started working together then,”
He added:
“I remember in 2014 he gave us a pep talk for the first time. We were a bit down as a team and things were not happening well and he was brought in, he was brought in for the second time to set things right.
“In his first speech he gave, the first word he said was ‘boys’ in the voice that only he can generate. And I clearly remember, I was sitting down and my body shook because I had never heard someone speak so clearly and with so much determination and positivity,”
Currently, Virat-led team India is playing against England in the ongoing 5-match Test series, which is locked at 1-1. The duo of Kohli-Shastri is once again aiming to win their 1st Test series in England since 2007. Further, talking about the ongoing series, Virat said that they are aiming their vision is to take Indian cricket at the highest point and they are well supported by the entire team to achieve this dream. He said:
“All I can say is that our working relationship has been built on trust and mutual respect, on a vision that has been shared. The only focus is to take Indian cricket higher and in a better place. Both of us together along with the brilliance of the whole team and the talent we have been blessed with, I think we have been able to achieve that and it’s something we are proud of,”
Featured image source – Hindustan Times
