Batting legend Rahul Dravid has given a thumbs up to Ravi Shastri and said the current Indian cricket team director has done a terrific job in his role so far.
According to latest media reports, Shastri will be announced as the new head coach after the conclusion of the team’s tour of Bangladesh where they are playing a Test and three One-Day Internationals (ODI) against the hosts. The post of head coach has been vacant ever since Zimbabwean Duncan Fletcher’s contract expired at the end of the World Cup where India lost in the semi-finals.
“I am not going to react to a media report but Ravi has done a really good job with the team and if he is going to join the team on a full-time basis that will be good for the side,” Dravid said on Friday.
“He has definitely been terrific in his role as the team director. He has vast experience, has been involved in the sport, knows about the modern game and is also in touch with the players, who also like his presence in the dressing room.”
Though India has done well lately in limited overs cricket, their performance in the longer version of the game, especially overseas, has been quite dismal.
Asked if more focus should be put on overseas Test matches, Dravid replied: “The focus should be on winning, whatever they are playing at present, at this point of time. Of course, the focus should also be on overseas cricket. The bottom line is that you have got to win.
“This current team is in a transitional phase but they will come out good eventually.
It is part and parcel of the game. Just like we were in 1999-2000 when we were not winning, we kept on improving and did well eventually. The current lot have got to put in performances. Expect this team to also do the same,” concluded the newly-appointed India A and India Under-19 coach.
Shastri right man FOR INDIA: BOYCOTT
london: legendary England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott has hailed BCCI’s decision to persist with Ravi Shastri as Indian cricket team’s director and said that at the highest level an international side needs a manager and not a coach.
“I am glad Ravi is there and they do not have a coach. Because personally I like Ravi Shastri a lot as he has lot to offer. Personally the use of a coach is over emphasised, manager is a better word. At the top, people shouldn’t be coaching,” Boycott was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
“If anything they need for managing and organising, for me the captain leads the team, sets the tone on the field.”
The 74-year-old former batsman feels India’s new full-time Test captain Virat Kohli has to find his own way to get his teammates’ support and try to harness his passion and emotion.
“Virat Kohli has to find his own way to get the players behind him. His runs will help definitely. But runs alone won’t be enough. He follows a fantastic personality in Mahendra Singh Dhoni, a truly great leader of men,” Boycott said.
“So Kohli will be compared to Dhoni, and Kohli has to in my opinion, an advice for him, in each passion and emotion he has, but he has to try not to let that passion and emotion boil over. He has got to harness it. He has got a racing heart. Very important to harness it and I wish him well,” he said.
Talking about this summer’s Ashes series, Boycott, who played 108 Tests and 36 ODI, was of the opinion that Ian Bell should be dropped from the England squad for Kevin Pietersen.