Former India coach Ravi Shastri opened up on his equation with India captain Virat Kohli during his tenure. Former India all-rounder believes that he and Virat Kohli were always on the same page as they both had the same ambitions to take Indian cricket forward.
Shastri also said that the split captaincy could be a blessing in disguise for both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Notable that Rohit Sharma has been handed over the white ball captaincy. Though in a pre-departure press conference ahead of South Africa, Virat Kohli showed his disappointment with the way he was sacked from ODI captaincy. however, Shastri sees it working pretty well for India.
“I think it’s the right way to go. This could be a blessing in disguise for Virat, and for Rohit because I don’t think in this era if the bubble life exists for another year or so, one guy to handle all three is not easy at all,” Shastri said on Star Sports’ show ‘Bold and Brave’
Talking about his experience as an India coach, he shared how his bonding with Kohli moved in a positive direction as they both have the same ambitions to take Indian cricket to new heights. Under Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri, India achieved some historic wins.
India won achieved consecutive Test series wins down under and they were leading in the test series against England which was cut short due to Covid-19.
“We’re both pretty aggressive, we want to play to win. We realized very quickly that to win you need to take 20 wickets, deciding to play aggressive and fearless cricket. It meant at times you would lose games but once you got one across the line, then it’s infectious.”
Shastri also lauded the efforts of Rohit Sharma who transformed himself as a successful Test opener for all conditions.
“It was very clear in my mind that I wanted to do it. I thought if I can’t get the best out of him as a batsman then I am a failure as a coach because there is too much talent there,” said Shastri
Also, read Ravi Shastri Revealed How MS Dhoni Casually Told His Teammates, “I Am Done With Test Cricket”