Kohli quashes reports of Shastri being a yes-man to him

Kohli quashes reports of Shastri being a yes-man: The Indian captain was vocal about India’s Head Coach.

Silencing the media reports for the first time on this topic, Indian captain Virat Kohli was vocal about Indian Coach Ravi Shastri not being a ‘yes-man’ to him. Answering to the question of Shastri saying ‘yes’ to everything, Kohli called it as ‘the most bizarre thing’ he had ever heard.

The 30-year old Indian captain was of the opinion that no one has said ‘no’ to him more than Shastri in the Indian team. Speaking during the press conference ahead of the tour of Australia, Kohli was quoted, “About saying ‘yes’ all the time, that is the most bizarre thing I have heard. I don’t think there’s anyone who has said no to me more than him in Indian cricket.

“Honestly, because he’s one guy I can speak to and get an honest opinion and he’ll tell me something that if it doesn’t need to be done, it doesn’t need to be done. I’ve made more changes to my game listening to him than anyone else in the past.”

Kohli further went on to praise the coach for his contributions to the Indian team during his stint as both the Team Director and Head Coach. “The contribution he has brought to the table even since we started building this team is making people believe that they belong to this level.

“I can vouch for it because at a time when we all went through a really difficult time in England in 2014…for me to be able to come out of that shell [and] a lot of other players, like Shikhar [Dhawan] in the 2015 World Cup, he can vouch for that as well…you know to get the best out of players, I think he’s been the most important factor,” Kohli said about Shastri contributing individual to players.

Admitting that the players playing at the highest level need more of man-managing skills than continual tips on techniques, Kohli cited it as a highlight of Shastri’s tenure. “Man management is the most important thing at the level at which we play. I think a lot of people think that we don’t understand what needs to be done and someone needs to literally tell you where the bat needs to come from, where the head has to be.

“I think we’ve learnt those things enough, it’s the man management which Ravi bhai has done brilliantly for the time that he’s been with the team,” Kohli concluded.

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