There were rumors of bad air between Sourav Ganguly and Ravi Shastri when the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) picked Anil Kumble ahead of former captain as head coach of the Indian cricket team in 2016, but it seems that Prince of Kolkata has finally understood the appointment of the current coach.
Ganguly, former India captain, was also one of the members of the CAC panel who had selected Kumble, who was forced to quit the job following the well-documented differences with captain Virat Kohli and Shastri was once again entrusted with the responsibility.
Recently, the 57-year-old was rewarded with a two-year contract extension by the BCCI – which will end after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup in 2021.
On Tuesday (October 1) at a promotional event organized by a fantasy gaming platform in Mumbai, President of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) admitted that Shastri is the right man to coach India.
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The current coach was picked over Tom Moody, Lalchand Rajput, Mike Hesson and Robin Singh by CAC and former international said now its Shastri’s turn to repay faith by winning ICC trophy.
Ganguly told reporters, “Ravi is the right choice. They didn't have too many choices as not many had applied (for the coach’s job). He has been doing this for five years and has now been given this responsibility for two more years. I don't think anyone else in history has got such a long time with the team. He is the right choice, but now he has to repay the faith placed in him. He has two T20 World Cups coming up (in 2020 and 2021), and in such big tournaments, India needs to find ways to win.”
Since the 2013 Champions Trophy, India hasn’t won any ICC title and he believes that Men in Blue must find a way to solve the puzzle to win knockout games in the major events.
India great further explained, “The team has no dearth of talent. A team that has Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Shikhar Dhawan is not short on talent. But it's also true that we lost the semifinals in the 2015 World Cup, in the 2016 T20 World Cup and now in 2019 World Cup. They will have to find a way to win knockout games. That is the puzzle they need to solve. They need some luck, take some risks, and find a way.”
Ganguly believes that India has a formidable unit and an abundance of resources and talented youngsters as well, and now it is the responsibility of Kohli and Shastri to convert the natural ability into victories. He signed off by saying, “The team was capable, and it still is, but you have to start winning big games.”
(With Economic Times Inputs)
