Ravi Shastri believes Rahul Dravid as Team India’s new coach would only raise the team’s bar in the days to come
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With Virat Kohli today playing his last T20I match as captain of Team India in the shortest format of the game against Namibia, it is also time for Ravi Shastri to relinquish his services as Team India Head coach as well.
In what has been an excellent stint with the team for him, Ravi Shastri – who wanted to make a ‘difference’ by building a team that can win away from home, reckons he has overachieved as coach of the Indian Cricket Team.
Shastri, who will be replaced by Rahul Dravid as the Head Coach of team India, believes that the latter has inherited a great team and under his guidance the team will only raise the bar in the days to come.
“He will only raise the bar”- Ravi Shastri believes Rahul Dravid will only help the team excel in days to come
During an interaction with Ian Bishop for the Star Sports when asked if he (Shastri) believes he has left them in that place where he had envisaged, Shastri said, “Absolutely. I think in Rahul Dravid they have got a guy who I would say has inherited a great team. And with his stature, with his experience, he can only raise the bar for this team in time to come”.
“I wanted to make a difference and I think I have”- Ravi Shastri
Shedding light on his stint as the coach and reflecting on his achievements Shastri said, “When I took this job, I said in my mind, I want to make a difference and I think I have.
“Sometimes in life it’s not about what you accomplish. It’s what you overcome. And what these guys have overcome over the last five years, the way they have travelled across the globe and performed in every corner of the globe in all formats of the game will make this, irrespective of what’s happened here, as one of the great teams in the history of the game. I’ve absolutely no doubt in my mind. It’s unfortunate we are out of this tournament but that takes nothing away from this great side”, he further added.
Out of 10, how would you rate Ravi Shastri’s performance as India’s head coach? 🤔
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) November 8, 2021
“Across all formats there are plenty [of gains],” he said. “But I would say winning in red-ball cricket across the globe – in West Indies, Sri Lanka, Australia, England, we’re leading the series, it could be the longest lead in the history of cricket because the next Test is next year but I’ll take that. I’ll settle for that for 12 months. But to go across and beat all these sides and then every team in white-ball cricket, whether it’s Twenty20 or fifty-over, we’ve beaten sides in their den which was my endeavour and the team’s endeavour because you were always big bullies at home but when you had to travel outside you didn’t have the goods. But this team has shown they have more.”
Despite not having an ICC Trophy under his belt, Shastri did have some tremendous achievements under his belt. He became India’s head coach after the 2017 Champions Trophy, whereas he has worked as a team director a couple of times in the past.
