Ravi Shastri Was A Players' Man And Outstanding Man Manager: R Sridhar

India’s former fielding coach R Sridhar lauded former head coach Ravi Shastri as an outstanding man-manager and a players’ man. The tenure of the entire coaching staff came to an end after the T20 World Cup 2021, and while Shastri didn’t want to continue, others decided to move on from the job as well.

Sridhar, along with bowling coach Bharat Arun, batting coaches Sanjay Bangar and Vikram Rathour, and physio Nitin Patel made quite a team that served the Indian squad for more than half a decade. Furthermore, Sridhar, who spent 7 years in the Indian dressing room, called his stint the best phase of his life, adding that India, under Shastri’s tenure, harnessed bad days and learnt from them.

Having not played international cricket, Sridhar eased into the senior men’s national team’s dressing room and played a vital role in helping India evolve into one of the finest fielding sides going around.

Ravi Shastri Had Terrific Leadership Qualities And Man-Management Skills: R Sridhar

Sridhar lauded the former India captain Ravi Shastri for being a total team man and knowing how to manage the different individuals that the squad had and lent a kind ear to anyone who came to him with any problem or issue.

“Leadership qualities and man-management skills. These are foremost of his (Shastri) qualities that come to mind. He could get things done whether it was from the CoA then or after that BCCI. He had a great stature and that was required. He was a players’ man and knew what players wanted and helped them remain in that space. A good leader and outstanding Man Manager,” Sridhar told Press Trust of India.

I Believe The Difference Of Opinion Is A Must Among Coaches To Arrive At The Best Conclusion: Sridhar

Talking further about how it was to work alongside Ravi Shastri, Sridhar stressed that the members of the Indian support staff had the liberty to have variances of view and use it beneficially for the team’s cause.

“I believe the difference of opinion is a must among coaches to arrive at the best conclusion. We always had differences of opinion — whether it was me, Ravi Bhai, Bharat sir, or Sanjay (Bangar) earlier and then Vikram (Rathour). But all of us were working towards the same goal. There is a subtle difference. We wanted the same thing for the team.

Two might agree and one disagree on something. But having had that conversation on different viewpoints, we make a decision that’s best suited for Indian cricket. We never had that feeling that our viewpoints were rejected. With Ravi Bhai, you could always go and tell him, this is what is happening now, may be you should change the batting order, maybe talking to Sanjay or Vikram, backed by data, to tactically stay ahead in the game,” Sridhar added.

Shastri ended his 4-year tenure as India head coach without an ICC title but helped India win two back-to-back Test series wins in Australia. India currently leads 2-1 in the five-Test series against England.

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