Ravi Shastri said that if his comment Ravichandran Ashwin He was ‘happy’ with the remarks when the off-spinner suffered an injury during the Australia tour. Defending his tough-love style of coaching, former Indian cricket team coach who was a guest here Indian ExpresseAdda on Thursday said that he had no agenda while selecting the players.
“My job isn’t to butter everyone’s toast. My job is to tell facts without an agenda. It inspired her to do something different.”
In a recent interview with ESPNcricinfo, Ashwin spoke about his disappointment when, after Kuldeep’s five-wicket haul against Australia in Sydney in 2019, Shastri called the chinaman bowler “India’s No. 1 overseas spinner”. “In that moment, however, I felt crushed. Absolutely crushed,” Ashwin had said, mentioning that he was thrown “under the bus”.
Shastri’s reaction to this was quite verbal. “About throwing Ashwin under the bus, he doesn’t have to worry because I told the bus driver to stop two-three feet less.”
On a serious note, he elaborated on the thought process behind playing Kuldeep in Sydney and said that the statement was made to encourage a youngster. Ashwin did not play the Test in Sydney and Kuldeep bowled well. So it is appropriate that I give Kuldeep a chance. If it hurts Ashwin, I am very happy. If your coach challenges you, what will you do? Go home crying and say ‘I won’t be back’. I, as a player, will take it as a challenge to prove the coach wrong.”
The former India captain emphasized that everything was done keeping in mind the best interest of the team. “In my seven years with the Indian team (as head coach as team director), I had absolutely zero agenda in picking a player. If anyone had to take the heat, he had to take the heat for the team,” Shastri said.
One of Ashwin’s complaints was about Indian cricket being insensitive to his injuries, knee and groin injuries that he suffered between 2017 and 2019. Offie felt that he was judged differently to his peers.
However, the Indian team management had given a clear message to Ashwin in 2018 that he has to be fit to last the entire series. “The message given to Ashwin in 2018 was that he has to stay fit. He has worked on that and see how he is bowling now. He is world class. The way Ashwin bowled in 2019 and the way he bowled in 2021, that is chalk and a thing.
Back in 2018, Ashwin was dismissed England‘s Moeen Ali On a rough surface in Southampton, as India lost the Test. In the past year, he has taken 62 wickets in 10 Tests, including 12 wickets in three matches in Australia. Three years ago, however, he thought about retirement.
For Shastri, as a coach, there was a lot of emphasis on man-management and handling the players’ ego in a positive manner. “There will be egos, it’s about how you channelize those egos. Therein lies your post-management skills,” said the former head coach.
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