CHENNAI: Ravi Shastri will be the head coach of the Indian cricket team. He will guide the team through to the 2019 World Cup.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the decision, ending speculation that had been rife since the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) – M/s Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman – meeting on Monday.
Former Indian all-rounder Ravi Shastri was said to be captain Virat Kohli’s choice, and was therefore the favourite going into the CAC process of interviewing candidates. The other prime contenders were Tom Moody and Virender Sehwag.
As a candidate for coach, Shastri had several attributes needed for the job. He was Team India’s stop-gap captain for one Test match and 11 ODIs and earned himself the descriptor of the best captain India never had.
As a cricket tactician, he is shrewd and sound, and is well-liked by the current India players.
Having already worked with them, he is also aware of their likes and dislikes and strengths and weaknesses.
Ravi Shastri's appointment closes the possibility of captain Virat Kohli complaining that he didn't get what he wanted and hence shouldn't be blamed if the team fails. If the captain is held responsible for the good, the bad and the ordinary, it's only fair that he has a say in the selection of the coach, rather than working with someone imposed on him.
To be fair to Ravi Shastri, he had a decent record as team director after taking charge of a sinking ship on the 2014 tour of England. Under him, the team reached the semifinals of the 50 and 20-over World Cups and beat South Africa 3-0 in a Test series at home. In the way the team played, there were the same signs of street-smart aggression that characterized Shastri’s own innings as a player.
But news of his appointment also comes with a tinge of apprehension. In his previous stint as team director with the likes of Dhoni and Kohli, he had seemed too preoccupied with results. He wanted to win, even if it meant rolling out rank turners, and even if Test matches got over inside three days and local organisers received warnings from International Cricket Committee (ICC) for producing sub-standard pitches.
Shastri's liking for turning pitches is well-known. His abuse of a pitch curator in Mumbai for not preparing one for an ODI against South Africa lend credence to that notion. It leads to the question whether winning on doctored pitches is the priority or building a team that can match opponents in all conditions. Because Shastri's previous stint was marked by an obsession for turning pitches, there is reason to be skeptical.
Whether Virat Kohli likes it or not, in the 13 Tests played at home against New Zealand, England, Bangladesh and Australia last season with Anil Kumble as coach, spin on the pitch was the talking point in just two matches, one of which India lost. England, who lost 4-0, didn't utter a word about excessive spin or pitches favouring the home side. To many, those wins were more creditable than the ones against South Africa, where on several occasions spinners opened the bowling for either side.
As Shastri begins his second innings as coach (third, counting a tour of Bangladesh in 2007 when he was again a stop-gap), these questions will remain in the background. No matter what he says, what he thinks or believes in will only be seen when India start playing at home.