India’s outgoing head coach Ravi Shastri heaped praise on Virat Kohli, saying the dashing batter has been one of the great ambassadors for the game, especially in Test cricket.
Shastri's tenure as India head coach and Virat Kohli's T20I captaincy came to an end after India finished their T20 World Cup 2021 campaign with a win over Namibia in Dubai on November 8.
India failed to qualify for the semi-finals after vital losses to Pakistan and New Zealand in their first two matches of the tournament and after the Black Caps defeated Afghanistan on Sunday, the Men in Blue were eliminated from the ICC event.
Shastri said at the virtual press conference, “With Virat leading the way, he's been one of the great ambassadors for the games, especially when you look at red-ball cricket, the way he's embraced it. And it's allowed other players on the team to follow suit. You've got to give credit where it's due.”
He continued, “So it's a team culture, which was impressed upon the team to follow, and they followed it to the hilt. They played fearless cricket round the globe.”
On being asked about the Indian team having each other's back, the outgoing coach said: “We actively worked towards it. We wanted to trust in that dressing room. That's the only way you can get each other's back. We needed communication. We wanted no finger-pointing at each other.”
He further added, “We needed the word 'I' to be thrown into the dustbin and the word 'we' coming in. And we created a culture that had to be obeyed and followed.”
Shastri also insisted that everything in the game be it the ICC events or bilateral series is important for him while mentioning India’s success in Australia twice.
The former skipper added, “For me, everything is important. If you're playing a big tournament, a big series, you play to win. So it's not happened this time, but it will happen another time for this team.”
He signed off by saying, “They're far too talented not to get something going or get something and a big trophy in the hands soon, just like they did in Australia twice. Up in England now, the way they played white-ball cricket in bilateral series. So somewhere down the line, things should go their way. The rub of the green should go their way.”
(With ANI Inputs)
