Cricket is a captain's game and whoever the Coach is, has to keep this in mind. The Board of Control for Cricket in India has appointed Ravi Shastri as the new coach of the Indian Cricket Team. This was after a lapse of over a year. Ravi was in the wilderness for a while but was previously the team director from 2014-16. The three-man selection committee headed by Saurav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, and Sahin Tendulkar had bypassed Ravi in preference to Anil Kumble. Ravi felt miffed and blamed Saurav for him being sidelined. The captain, Virat Kohli who had an excellent rapport with Shastri was also unhappy.
Kumble donned the mantle the coach but he was different in his management style and this caused some friction with Kohli. Despite his 635 wickets in Test cricket, Kumble was perhaps not an adept man when it came to man-management skills. He resigned citing “incompatible differences “with Kohli. There was no choice really as Indian cricket can ill afford to lose Kohli who is leading the team from the front and is one of the best batsmen in the world, The Times of India reported.
Shastri as coach
The BCCI also announced other new additions to the coaching staff, including former India fast bowler Zaheer Khan, who was appointed bowling coach; and former star batsman Rahul Dravid, who was appointed overseas batting consultant.
The three will guide the Indian team to the 2019 ODI World Cup. Unfortunately, controversy has reared its head again and Shastri is not happy that Zaheer is the bowling coach. He would like Sanjay Bangar to come back. He was the bowling coach during Ravi’s earlier stint with the Indian team. Probably he will have his way.
Backing of Kohli
The coach selection committee had conducted lengthy interviews but Shastri who had the backing of Kohli was always in the run though he applied very late. The selection committee interviewed Veranda Sehwag, Sri Lanka's former Australian coach Tom Moody, Pakistan's former coach Richard Pybus of England, and India's former manager Lalchand Rajput.
Former West Indies coach Phil Simmons did not attend the interview. Shastri won hands down as the selection committee did not want another fiasco like the appointment of Kumble. Shastri is a well-known player and has played 80 Tests and 150 One day Internationals.
Future
The 55-year-old ex-player has excellent man management skills and gets on well with the Indian team and captain Kohli. The board waited for an opinion from Kohli who agreed and the decks were cleared for Ravi to take over as coach of the team of the richest board in world cricket. He was instrumental in reviving the fortunes of the Indian team during his last stint and did a creditable job. His sidelining in favor of Kumble had raised eyebrows at that time. He will now be the coach till 2019 and hopefully, India should do well with both the captain and Ravi Shastri batting together.
