An Attempt Was Made To Ensure I Don’t Get Team India Head Coach Job: Ravi Shastri

TPI Staff December 10, 2021

97 1 minute read

Ravi Shastri Addresses Team India For Last Time, Says You Over Exceeded My Expectations

Mumbai: Former Team India head coach Ravi Shastri has said that an attempt was made to ensure he doesn’t get the Team India head coach job.

Back in 2017, Shastri took over from Anil Kumble, who resigned after an alleged spat with Indian captain Virat Kohli. In 2019, Shastri was reappointed as Team India’s head coach.

His tenure came to an end after India early exit from the 2021 T20 World Cup in Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Then the Men in Blue under the leadership of Virat Kohli could not go beyond Super 12. Shastri also said that many people opposed the appointment of Bharat Arun as India’s bowling coach.

“Yes. They didn’t want to give me Bharat Arun either as the bowling coach. And looking at how things pan out – the very guy they didn’t want as the bowling coach went on to become the finest this country has ever had.

“And I’m not pointing any fingers at people in general. Specific people. I must say an attempt was made to ensure I don’t get the job. But such is life,” Shastri was quoted as saying in an exclusive interview with The Times of India.

Under Arun, India developed one of the deadliest fast attacks in international cricket. Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Siraj, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami have helped India win not only at home but also in tough overseas conditions.

Earlier, Shastri had admitted that he was not the right person for the job, especially at a time when Indian cricket was sluggish due to a lack of consistent performances on foreign soil. Back in 2014, Shastri took over as India’s team director.

“In many ways, I thought, I was a mistake doing this job because I wasn’t cut out to do this. It was destiny. Indian cricket was not in good shape again after back-to-back overseas losses between 2012 and 2014. They were languishing back of the table across formats,” Shastri added.

Although under Shastri’s tenure India couldn’t win an ICC trophy, they climbed to the top of the Test rankings and also won plenty of bilateral series.