Ganguly on Ravi Shastri: ‘He has got to take responsibility for improving the team’

Ganguly on Ravi Shastri: Former India captain criticizes Ravi Shastri after India loses yet another series on the foreign soil.

Sourav Ganguly, India’s most successful captain of his time, has further criticized the Indian team for their 60-run loss against England in the fourth Test which subsequently also meant it was curtains for India as far as the series was concerned.

After strong comments from Virender Sehwag, Sunil Gavaskar and the others, the normally outspoken Ganguly has also come out in public to criticize the way this team has played. Having earlier stated that Ravichandran Ashwin should experiment a little less in Test cricket, Ganguly now became vocal for coach Ravi Shastri, criticizing him for the team’s poor show.

Ganguly, who is also a member of the CAC (Cricket Advisory Committee) along with his old teammates in Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, had advocated for Rahul Dravid and Zaheer Khan becoming the batting and bowling consultant respectively during overseas tours. However, captain Kohli and coach Shastri were adamant on having Sanjay Bangar and Bharat Arun retained for those profiles.

Watching the dismal performance overseas in the longest format of the game, Ganguly said in an interview to India TV, “Rahul Dravid had been asked to become a batting consultant and he had even agreed. But then he spoke to Ravi and I don’t know what happened after that. The Committee of Administrators also had added to the confusion with the coach selection and we were tired and just got out of it.

So it’s difficult for me to say why Rahul Dravid did not become the batting consultant. But if Ravi Shastri was given the responsibility, after consulting Kohli, then he has to fulfill that responsibility and improve the team.”

India take on England in the dead rubber fifth Test of the series on September 7. Working on these three key areas might help them to save their pride and register another victory in the series. This is India’s predicted playing eleven for the fifth Test.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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