Ravi Shastri plays down Sourav Ganguly tussle, reveals why he applied to coach India
Mumbai: Ravi Shastri, after he was named Indian cricket team head coach on Tuesday, made it clear that he has moved on from the fact he was snubbed for India coach position last year, and looking forward to take up the new challenges head on as he travels with Virat Kohli and Co to Sri Lanka on July 20th.
Shastri lost out against Anil Kumble as the Cricket Advisory Committee of Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly picked the former leg-spinner over former Team India director for India head coach role last year. It was followed by a war of words between Ganguly and Shastri. However, Shastri said he has no time for “brooding”.
“I don't carry baggage. I am not a guy who delves into the past. Anyone who has known me through the years knows I let bygones be bygones and move on. There is so much more to life than just brooding and crying over spilt milk. You've got to move on, which I did. I did a heck of a lot of a television work, did almost 140 days of television last year of live cricket that kept me immensely busy and allowed me to focus on the job which was to watch and comment on cricket or be involved in cricket,” Shastri was quoted as saying by Mid-Day.
Shastri played down the much-publicised spat between him and Ganguly and kept it crisp and short when asked whether he has won over Ganguly.
“I don't look at it in that fashion. The committee was chosen to appoint a head coach and they did their job,” said the former cricketer-turned-commentator.
Shastri also welcomed the addition of Rahul Dravid (batting consultant on away tours) and Zaheer Khan (bowling consultant) to the coaching staff.
“In fact, even in my last stint, I had asked people like Rahul and Zaheer to come every now and then. I even asked Sachin to come at some stage and have a chat with the boys. I always believe that you need a fresh set of ideas. Your core team is meant to do the job for 200 days a year and every now and then, whenever you get some fresh inputs through with the quality of players like Zak (Zaheer) or Rahul it can only be good,” said Shastri.
The former India and Mumbai Ranji Trophy team captain also said he was surprised hearing about the rift between Kumble and Kohli and hence, did not apply for the post when the BCCI invited application for the role of head coach for the first time.
“I was (surprised). That's why I didn't apply initially. I didn't realise the gravity and if it (the problem between coach Kumble and captain Kohli) was there from the very beginning and I knew about it, I would've applied in the first place,” said the new head coach of Team India.
“I didn't apply in the first place. What did make me apply was when I realised that there was a huge problem there. Initially, I didn't reply but I didn't realise how serious the issues were. Therefore, when the BCCI reopened the (application process), I gave it a thought and said to myself, 'you must (send in application) because you have been instrumental in (the appointment of) your support staff and have seen where your team has risen to. Now, you can also see in front of your eyes that there is a problem, so instead of backing away from it, take it head on,” added Shastri.
Under Kumble India enjoyed tremendous success, Shastri continued to be players’ favourite as reportedly 15 players, including Kohli, wanted him as coach. Shastri though made it clear that it won’t make him a “soft coach”.
“Go and ask the players! One look in my eyes and they know where they stand with me,” said Shastri.
