You Can’t Please Everybody In This Job: Ravi Shastri

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri open-mindedly said that he never wanted to please any particular individual during his stint as the Indian cricket team’s head coach.

Shastri’s tenure as India’s head coach ended after the completion of the T20 World Cup in November in United Arab Emirates (UAE).

You can’t please everybody in this job: Ravi Shastri

Talking about his image in the public, Shastri said he never wanted to please everyone in his coach role and neither he was bothered about his image in the press.

“You can’t please everybody in this job. I am not doing a job there to please someone or look good in the media. Sorry, I am there to ensure that India picks the best team for the conditions,” Shastri told Star Sports.

Ravi Shastri explains on dropping Ajinkya Rahane in 2018 South Africa Test series

Shastri and Kohli were heavily criticised for benching Ajinkya Rahane in the first two Test matches during India’s tour of South Africa in 2018. Rahane’s Mumbai teammate Rohit Sharma played ahead of him before they were swapped in the final Test in Johannesburg.

Justifying the selection of Rohit Sharma, Shastri said the noise was either way bound to happen irrespective of who played.

“I think the change came in Cape Town in the first Test against South Africa. It was Jasprit (Bumrah’s) first Test and he would be unleashed in the first Test itself,” Shastri said.

“If Ajinkya Rahane had played that game, they would have said, why didn’t Rohit Sharma play. If Rohit played, they’d say why didn’t Ajinkya play. It’s constant, so if you want to get in, get into those first five,” he further added.

Recently, in an interview, Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin opened up on feeling crushed after Shastri dubbed Kuldeep Yadav as ‘India’s best overseas spinner’ after the latter bagged a five-wicket haul in the Sydney Test in January 2019.

Defending his remark, Shastri said that his role was not to please any player and stood firm on that comment. Shastri said that he was happy that his comment got Ashwin to improve his performance.

Also Read: Ravi Shastri Responds After Ravi Ashwin Says He Was Crushed When The Former Coach Lauded Kuldeep Yadav As India’s Best Overseas Spinner