Indian cricketing legend Ravi Shastri is known for his aggressive approach to game plans during high-pressure tournaments. The team under him and Virat Kohli played a dominant brand of cricket in the longer format and shorter format of the game.
Under his tenure as the Indian head coach, the Indian team had many memorable wins including the Asia Cup 2018 and Nidahas Trophy and in the longer format of the game, India won back-t0-back Border Gavaskar series in Australia, which is considered one of the best wins of the decade by the Asian Giants.
Former Indian skipper Rahul Dravid replaced Ravi Shastri as the head coach of the Indian national team following the completion of the 2021 T20 World Cup in Dubai. Here are five players whose careers were destroyed by Ravi Shastri.
1. Ambati Rayudu
Talented Indian batter Ambati Rayudu made his debut for India in 2013 against Zimbabwe after impressing in the Indian Premier League. He, however, did not get a long run in the team. Later, he was recalled to the team again in 2018 following his impressive batting for Chennai Super Kings.
The 38-year-old amassed 639 runs at an average of 42.6 after his comeback in ODIs (2018-19) following his heroics for Chennai Super Kings in 2018 and performed well for the Indian team only to be dropped just before the World Cup. Rayudu’s exclusion from the team proved to be a costly move for the Men in Blue as they could get past the semifinals of the tournaments.
2. Kuldeep Yadav
Kuldeep Yadav was the primary spinner in the Indian team in the 2019 World Cup, the Left arm spinner found himself out of the team following the team exit in the marquee event, as he was not provided with an opportunity to represent the country across the format.
The 28-year-old was brought into the Indian setup after the stint of Ravi Shastri. Kuldeep has shown the ability to pick up wickets consistently in the middle overs, which has provided a different dimension to India’s bowling, as the games could be played on slow wickets, which may assist the spinner in the middle.
3. Rahul Chahar
Rahul Chahar was touted next big thing in Indian cricket following his massive performance for the Mumbai Indians in the cash-rich league. He was the main leg-spinner for India in the T20 World Cup 2021 but could not replicate his performance for the Indian team at the highest level, as he was removed from the team following their exit in the marquee event.
He found himself out of the Indian team following their exit in the 2021 T20 World Cup as he did not get to play a single international match for India in 2022. He is one of the players, who could have been groomed in the Indian team for limited-over cricket, as he showed his skills against high-quality batters.
4. Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik was not given consistently during Ravi Shastri’s tenure as a head coach in the Indian team. The Indian veteran had very less opportunity to prove his worth in International cricket, as he was removed from India’s playing 11 after his blistering finish against Bangladesh in the Nidahas Trophy 2018.
Even in the 2019 World Cup, the Tamil Nadu batter played only three games for the Men in Blue, as the team was out of the tournament in the semifinal and the wicket-keeper was removed from the Indian team following India’s heartbreaking defeat against New Zealand. The RCB batter played brilliantly well to make it into the Indian Squad for the 2022 T20 World Cup after an impressive IPL with the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2022 season.
5. Sanju Samson
Sanju Samson was one of the unluckiest cricketers in the Indian team, as he made his debut for the Indian team in 2015, but has played only 28 games for the Men in Blue in International Cricket. The Kerala batter was not given enough opportunities for the Indian team during Ravi Shastri’s stint as the Indian Head Coach.
Samson was brought back into the Indian team following Shastri’s exit as the Indian coach. The Stylish Right-hander has performed exceedingly well for the Indian team in the limited opportunity in the 50-over format. Sanju Samson has scored 330 runs in 11 ODIs so far at an impressive batting average of 66.