'Saw ‘guardian’ BCCI growing up in 40 years' - Ravi Shastri after receiving lifetime achievement award

Former Indian skipper Ravi Shastri reacted after winning the Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday (23rd January). He said that it was an emotional and touching moment for him.

The BCCI award function took place in Hyderabad on Tuesday (23rd January). One of the major awards went to Ravi Shastri as he was greeted with a lifetime achievement award for his contribution to Indian cricket. The former all-rounder has been an incredible servant for India in the field as well as the off-field.

Ravi Shastri played a decent role for India in his playing days and was also part of India’s World Cup-winning squad in 1983. After that, he turned himself into one of the best commentators in the world before taking up the role of head coach of the Indian cricket team. 

Ravi Shastri ended his coaching stint on high as under him the Indian team became the most threatening touring party. They won the series in Australia twice and also drew the series in England. It was because of him that the team achieved huge success in overseas conditions.

Ravi Shastri talked about his journey while collecting the award. He spoke about the last four decades with Indian cricket and said that BCCI has been a guardian for him. He said that the governing body showed him the path to play, which he took pride in. He elaborated:

“It certainly is (an emotional moment). Ladies and gentleman thanks for coming and I thank the BCCI for bestowing this honour on me. It’s four decades in the game, you have not missed a beat and you have been involved with Indian cricket right through.

“It is a very touching moment for me because when I started my cricket at the age of 17 and I finished at 31 as a player, 30 in fact, BCCI was my guardian right through. They showed me the path to play the sport. You know when the bucks were not big in the game as Farokh (Engineer), had mentioned. But there was pride in playing for your country.”

🗣️🗣️ 𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙖 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙤𝙪𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚@RaviShastriOfc on winning the Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award 🏆👌#NamanAwards pic.twitter.com/WHCpKHo3SJ

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 23, 2024

I saw the BCCI growing up in the 40 years of mine – Ravi Shastri

Ravi Shastri further added that he has seen BCCI grow in 40 years and highlighted the way young players have benefited. Calling it a touching thing, he explained:

“I saw the BCCI growing up in the 40 years of mine, you know, a powerhouse in world cricket and because of that you can see generations after generations of players benefitting. So, for me this is very special evening with the women’s team, and the men’s cricket team there.

“You have got the coaching staff from England and here are people who have been with me right through those 40 years – either as administrators, or players or broadcasters or production people around the ground when we play the game or watch the game or commentate on the game. So, it is a very special evening. Touching.”

Ravi Shastri played 80 Tests for India in which he scored 3830 runs to go with 11 centuries and 12 half-centuries. He also picked 151 wickets. He also played 150 ODIs for India, scoring 3108 runs to go with 4 hundreds and 18 fifties. He also picked 129 scalps.