We Won So Much, People Weren't Used To Us Losing - Ravi Shastri

Former head coach Ravi Shastri stated that the Indian cricketing fraternity could hardly come to grips with the national team losing, during his tenure, as they don’t experience it that often.

Shastri opened up on how often he would be under the scanner every time the team makes mistakes or loses the game. Despite not having won a single ICC tournament, Shastri will definitely go down as one of India’s best coaches for his contribution to Tests.

Under him, the Indian team held the ICC Test Mace for more than five years, made it to the knockout stages of most ICC tournaments, and continued to grow in all three departments. His contract ran out recently following another failure in an ICC event, and he revealed how much of a burden it has been being judged by people after every match.

“I was judged for 7 years of my life that was under public scrutiny. Time for me to sit on the judge’s chair and judge some of these people. In India, Cricket is a religion. You win 5 games and then when you lose, pistols and pens come out, and sometimes it’s acidic,” he said in a conversation with Republic World.

“To take the bullet is the job of the coach” – Ravi Shastri

Ravi Shastri further analyzed that he was happy to take the blame whenever the team loses but criticized the people who brought in a lot of negativity in the Indian cricketing arena. However, he said that he didn’t have a choice but to take it on the chin and move on.

“You just got to take it on the chin. We won so much, people weren’t used to us losing. To take the bullet is the job of the coach. You overcome all those hurdles, you don’t let it pull you down. You have to ensure the team gives their best. Take criticism along the way and move on,” Shastri added.

Along with Shastri, his trusted bowling coach, Bharat Arun, and fielding coach, R Sridhar’s contracts ran out. Rahul Dravid has been named as the successor and will take over from the upcoming series against New Zealand at home.

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