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Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri will return to the commentary box in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season. Ahead of the IPL 2022, Shastri called Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) conflict of interest clause "stupid" as it prevented him from commentating.
"This is the 15th edition of the IPL, I did the first 11 years and then thanks to some stupid conflict of interest clause that exists in some stupid constitution that binds us, you could not do the last few seasons," the 1983 World Cup-winning member said in a press conference organised by Star Sports.
In addition, Shastri lauded his new commentating partner Suresh Raina for his performances in IPL over the years. Raina is currently the fourth-highest run-scorer in the cash-rich league.
"You call him Mr. IPL, I could not disagree. He lit up the IPL, to play consecutive seasons for a team without missing a match is a real big compliment in itself. He is one of the highest-scorers in the history of the competition," the 59-year-old added.
While India have found their all-format captain in Rohit Sharma, Shastri was asked about future prospects for the leadership role to which he took a few names.
"Virat is not being captain anymore, but Rohit has also been outstanding especially in white ball. India will be looking at who will be captaining the team (in future) -- there is Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul. India will be looking for a solid captain for the future and here is the opportunity," the former all-rounder said.
Iyer, Pant and Rahul are leading respective franchises in the upcoming season of the 10-team tournament. Iyer was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as their new captain whereas Rahul was picked before the auction by new franchise Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
Shastri also talked about Hardik Pandya who will make his IPL captaincy debut with new franchise Gujarat Titans (GT). Pandya has been in the news over his fitness issues. Recently, he passed the Yo-Yo fitness test at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru and bowled consistently over 130kmph.
"The whole county would be very closely watching Hardik Pandya in the IPL, we all know what he is capable of. Like Hardik there will be a lot of other players who are knocking at the doors of the Indian team,” Shastri said ahead of his return to commentary box after seven-year absence.
