You Are Not Judged By Winning The World Cup, You Are Judged By How You Play: Ravi Shastri

Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri expressed his views on a player’s greatness without judging him to win a World Cup.

Many players’ careers are defined by the number of World Cups (50-over format) they have won when they retire. Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting was part of Australia’s three World Cup-winning campaigns (1999, 2003 & 2007).

MS Dhoni led the Indian team in the 2011 World Cup and broke the jinx of winning the illuminated trophy after 28 years. In fact, it was the last World Cup for legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar, who retired a couple of years later after winning the tournament.

Ravi Shastri says it’s the approach that plays a defining role

Shastri pointed out that a player’s career is not determined by winning a World Cup but by how he had an approach to the game and one prolongs his playing tenure.

“Many prominent players like Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman and Rohit haven’t won World Cup, which doesn’t mean they are bad players. We’ve only two world cup winning captains. Even (Sachin) Tendulkar had to play six World Cups before winning one,” Shastri told news agency ANI.

“You are not judged by the World Cup. You are judged by how you play, whether you are an ambassador of the game, played with integrity and play the game for a long period of time,” he added.

Ravi Shastri’s tenure ended with the Indian team last year in November

India haven’t won a World Cup since 2011 as they lost in back to back semi-finals to Australia (in 2015) and New Zealand (in 2019).

In the latest T20 World Cup in UAE, India bowed out from the Super 12 stage after losing Group 2 fixtures against Pakistan and New Zealand.

Ravi Shastri was the head coach during that period, in fact, it was his last event before his tenure with the Indian team was about to end. Shastri was replaced by former Indian captain Rahul Dravid as the new head coach of the Indian team.

Also Read: If Rohit Sharma Is Fit, Why Can’t He Be The Captain In Tests Too – Ravi Shastri