Ravi Shastri bowed out of his role as the head coach of Indian Cricket team with a win against Namibia in T20 World Cup 2021. Shastri who has been the coach of Indian team since 2017 has overseen some mercurial time in charge. Under his reign, India have achieved Test cricket success overseas. Notably, India’s Test series win in Australia and Sri Lanka have been the glittering part of his tenure. The 59-year-old has given his full backing to his successor Rahul Dravid and has full faith in him.
"In Rahul Dravid, they've got a guy who has inherited a great team and I think with his experience, he can only raise the bar in time to come. There are still players here who will play for another 3-4 years which is very important. It is not a team in transition and that'll make the biggest difference,” Shastri told the broadcasters before India’s final encounter of the T20 World Cup 2021.
Shastri succeeded Anil Kumble back in 2017 as a controversial appointment during that period after the latter’s rift with skipper Virat Kohli. Shastri further stated that India have a great future ahead with the core of squad they have. He lauded players including Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah for doing a great job for the team across all the formats. He also complimented the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane who stepped up on the occasion whenever required including the famous Test series win over Australia earlier this year.
Coming from behind series win against Australia was a memorable occasion for the former World Cup-winner. Under his reign, India reached the final of World Test championship, semi final of the 2019 World Cup and won the T20 Asia Cup 2018. However, he failed to pass the final hurdle to win a major ICC tournament.
According to Shastri, Dravid has an unfinished business and is the perfect fit to succeed him for the longer run. The former India captain’s major assignments in coming years will be the T20 World Cup next year in Australia followed by 50-over World Cup in 2023 on home soil. Along with Shastri Indian team also bids farewell to their bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar.
