Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has said that he didn't follow a single ball in the recently-concluded three-match ODI series between South Africa and India. The former World Cup winner also stated that the current situation is only a matter of time before the team can get back to normal routine and starts winning games. Shastri is currently in Oman where he is overseeing the role of the commissioner in the ongoing Legends League Cricket (LLC).
Shastri's words
"As I said, I've not followed a single ball in the series. But I don't think there will be too much change in Virat Kohli,” Shastri stated on Indian cricket’s recent developments regarding Virat Kohli.
"If you lose one series, you people start criticising... You can't win every game, there will be wins and losses.
"How can the standard go down suddenly? For five years, you have been number one side in the world," the former India head coach said.
When questioned about the standard of the team, he felt that the team is in the bad patch but has a proven track record in the last five years.
"When you have a win ratio of 65 per cent over the last five years, what is there to worry about? What is there to worry about, our rival teams should worry," he explained.
Shastri on Kohli
Shastri further added on Kohli, who relinquished his Test captaincy after India were beaten 1-2 by the hosts South Africa in the Test series. According to him, Kohli will now be able to focus on batting and change in captaincy will not affect his performance. He was also assured that Kohli will not change his attitude despite recent developments in Indian cricket.
"It's his choice. You have to respect his decision. There is a time for everything. A lot of big players in the past have left captaincy when they felt they wanted to focus on their batting or on their cricket.
"Whether it's (Sachin) Tendulkar, (Sunil) Gavaskar or (MS) Dhoni. And, it's Virat Kohli now,” the 59-year-old said.
Shastri also said that he is looking forward to the future and not focusing on things that happened in the past.
"I took a break after seven years in the game, been part of the team, One thing is very clear, I do not wash dirty linen in public.
"I was very clear, the day I finished, I will be blank. I don't want to discuss any of my players on a public platform.”
