Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri
Ravi Shastri [Image-Google]

Former Indian captain and legendary opener, Sunil Gavaskar, has heaped high praise on his former teammate and the current head coach of the Indian Cricket Team, Ravi Shastri, for his man-management skills.

Ravi Shastri’s man-management skills are well documented and we saw that to the hilt during the recent tour of Australia where the former all-rounder marshalled his troops brilliantly post the shambolic 36 all-out in Adelaide.

Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri
Ravi Shastri [Image: Twitter]
Shastri’s comments of ‘Wear 36 all-out as a badge of honour’ proved to be the fillip for the beleaguered Indian team as they went on to turn the tables on Australian and win the Test series 2-1 despite having more than half of their first-choice players sidelined.

Gavaskar reckoned that Shastri has the ability to bring out the best from a cricketer even in his lowest phase.

“Just 10-15 minutes with Ravi Shastri after a practice session. You know Ravi has got the ability to give so much confidence to youngsters, it’s unbelievable,” Sunil Gavaskar said during a webinar to mark the book launch of ‘1971: The Beginning of India’s Cricketing Greatness’ published by Harper Collins.

“If he (Shastri) believes in their ability and talent, there is no better man than Ravi Shastri to give encouragement to that youngster. He will scold you, tell you off but at the same time, he will tell you what you can do to get better, he will actually demonstrate to you,” said Gavaskar.

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Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, Bharat Arun
Bharat Arun with Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav [Image-Getty]
Sunil Gavaskar also lauded Indian bowling coach Bharat Arun for the manner in which he helped the young Indian pacers hone their skills and transform into match-winners.

Indian cricket is brimming with fast bowling talents which has taken the country’s Test cricket to a completely different level in the last five years and Bharat Arun has played a stellar role in the revolution.

“Then you have Bharat when you talk to some of the seam bowlers who did splendidly during the second half of the Australia tour, they are all full of praise for Bharat as to how he guided them” said Gavaskar.

“That’s what these youngsters need to do. Spend as much time as possible with Ravi Shastri and Bharat Arun. There are no better persons than these two when you are having self-doubts,” Gavaskar said. You need people around you who believe in you, and tell you ‘yes you can do it,” added Sunil Gavaskar.

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