CoA tells Ravi Shastri to let the fans be the judge of how good the Indian team is

Ravi Shastri had said, “India’s best travelling team in last 15 years.”

The CoA took Ravi Shastri to task while the and BCCI aren't happy with Virat Kohli latest gaffe | Getty

Indian coach Ravi Shastri had tall claims during India’s 5-match Test series against England recently and had said that the current Indian team was “India’s best traveling team in the last 15 years.

However, his claims were deflated faster than anything as India lost the Test series 1-4 and now the Committee of Administrators (CoA) has said that the decision of this should be left to the people, “Let people be the judge,” a top BCCI official revealed, as per reports of PTI.

At a recent meeting between the team management and the CoA in Hyderabad, Shastri reiterated his much-publicized comments that drew sharp reactions from former cricketers such as Sunil Gavaskar and Sourav Ganguly.

Ravi initially started off by saying that the Indian media always criticizes its own players and how this is one of the best ever teams in the last 15 years,” an official present in the meeting told PTI.

When Ravi went on about how great this current team is, one of the CoA members just cut him short. The CoA member told him, ‘Let’s stick to the agenda of the meeting and discuss Australia tour policies. You don’t decide if the team is the best traveling side in the world. Let people be the judge’,” the official said.

Shastri and Kohli were told that the Indian team is being provided each and every facility that it has sought and its performances on the field should match that input.

One of the senior members attending the meeting told the Kohli-Shastri duo that there is nothing wrong if BCCI wants them to perform well overseas. The official told them, ‘You have been given everything — from hefty central contracts to practice facilities, support staff, whatever you guys have wanted, so it’s only fair that your performances are put in perspective’.”

Ajinkya (Rahane) as usual was pretty quiet for most of the part and Rohit (Sharma) joined a bit late as he was coming from Mumbai. Rohit was only speaking when spoken too,” recollected the official.

The meeting was attended by CoA chief Vinod Rai, Diana Edulji, CEO Rahul Johri, IPL COO Hemang Amin, GM (Cricket Operations) Saba Karim along with Kohli, Shastri, Rohit, Rahane and chairman of selectors MSK Prasad.

The BCCI has also expressed displeasure with Virat Kohli’s recent statement of asking fans who didn’t like Indian players to leave the country in a promotional video.

It was a very stupid comment to make. He should have been more careful. He must understand that the kind of money he is earning is because Indian fans have invested in this game. But again the comment was made on his private forum or business initiative. He hasn’t used a BCCI platform so that’s also an issue,” the senior official said.

(Inputs: PTI)

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 08 Nov, 2018

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