Former India cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has hit out at Ravi Shastri for his recent comments related to Virat Kohli’s captaincy saga.
According to Manjrekar, Shastri 2.0 version doesn't make intelligent comments and the former India head coach’s remarks have an agenda behind them.
Shastri, who was part of the Team India set-up as head coach from 2017 to 2021, recently said that not many would have been able to digest the fact that Kohli ending up with 50-60 wins as captain in the longest format of the game.
See Also: Don’t know what happened between Kohli and Ganguly; haven’t spoken to them- Ravi Shastri
Notably, Virat stepped down as Test captain following the 2-1 series loss to South Africa earlier this month. He led the side for seven years with tremendous success, registering 40 wins from 68 Tests.
“I was a huge admirer of Ravi Shastri. I played under him, he gave players support, a great fighter, senior. This Shastri 2.0 I don’t understand. What he says in public is expected, I don’t react to it. I don’t want to be disrespectful. He doesn’t make very intelligent comments, you can see the agenda behind it. It’s not an accurate cricketing observation," Manjrekar told CNN-News18.
In an exclusive chat with India Today last week, Shastri shared his thoughts on Kohli’s decision to quit captaincy.
"Whether Virat could have continued to lead India in Tests. For sure, he could have led India for at least 2 years because next two years India would be playing at home and who is coming over - 9 and 10 jacks, going by the rankings. But he would have then made it to 50-60 wins under his captaincy and a lot of people will not be able to digest that fact," Shastri stated.
"Two years, he could have carried on but we should respect his decision. In any other country, this kind of record is incredible. You won against Australia, England and lost 1-2 to South Africa but still, there are debates if he should be the captain or not," he added.
Ravi Shastri had served the Indian team as a director from 2014 to 2016 and was made the full-time coach in 2017 before being re-appointed in the role in 2019. His tenure ended after the T20 World Cup in UAE last year.
Under Shastri, Team India did reasonably well, winning two Test series in Australia and a number of bilateral series in white-ball cricket. They were also leading the Test series 2-1 in England last year, before the final Test was postponed due to COVID-19 scare in the visiting camp.
