India’s former head coach Ravi Shastri has finally had his say on the controversy between Virat Kohli and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly after he was sacked as ODI captain. Shastri feels that people need to Ganguly’s “side of the story” after Kohli falsified his statement. Ganguly said that he and the selectors had urged the former white-ball skipper to not give up T20I captaincy as they want a single skipper for both limited-overs formats.
“With good communication, this can be handled better,” Shastri told Indian Express.
“Virat has given his side of the story. It needs the board president to give his side of the story. It’s not about who’s lying and who’s not. It’s not right to jump into there until you know what was the actual conversation,” Shastri added.
The 59-year-old compared himself with Kohli and reflected on the partnership that lasted over four years.
“I see a lot of myself in Virat, drive, hunger and self-confidence. My relationship with Virat was fantastic, two like-minded people going about their job,” the former World Cup-winner recalled.
Shastri who took the top job after a fallout between Kohli and former Indian skipper Anil Kumble, did not have much to say about the clash between the two.
“It was a personality clash between two individuals who did not gel. It was their problem, not mine,” he opined.
Shastri also had his say on Hardik Pandya taking a break from cricket to work on his fitness. The all-rounder was not fit to bowl in the initial phase of T20 World Cup 2021 and did not perform upto the mark.
“If Hardik Pandya can take a break for a bit, work on his fitness, get stronger, he will be a real asset. He can easily give you the four overs in T20 cricket,” he said.
