Ravi Shastri re-appointed as Head coach of team India

After Team India’s unexpected defeat in the semi-finals of the World Cup-2019, it was felt that it would be difficult for Ravi Shastri to be re-elected to the post of coach, but after a long exercise, his name was again approved by the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC). With this, Ravi Shastri, 57, once again took over as the head coach of the Indian Men’s senior team. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced his name after holding a press conference in Mumbai. He will remain the head coach of Team India till the T20 World Cup -2021.

6 names were shortlisted for Team India’s head coach, including current coach Ravi Shastri. Apart from Shastri, two more Indian coaches (former cricketers Lalchand Rajput and Robin Singh) were also short-listed. Eventually Ravi Shastri became the first choice of the CAC led by Kapil Dev. Anshuman Gaekwad and Shanta Rangaswamy were also included in this committee.

Significantly, Lalchand Rajput, Robin Singh and Mike Heyson appeared in the interview for the coach’s post at the BCCI headquarters on Friday, while two contenders, including Ravi Shastri, joined via Skype.

Kapil Dev said, “The three of us (Kapil, Anshuman, Shanta) have unanimously decided that Ravi Shastri will continue as the head coach of the Indian team.” Shastri has beaten Tom Moody of Australia and Mike Heyson of New Zealand in this race. Kapil said, ‘There was tremendous competition between the three and Shastri was ahead with very close marks. While making the choice, we kept in mind the coaching skills, their experience, sports information, achievements and whatever parameters were given to us. We listened carefully to his presentation and after listening to him gave him points.’

Kapil, however, categorically denied that Kohli had been consulted on the issue. The former captain said, ‘We did not consult Kohli. If we had taken his opinion, we would have taken the opinion of the entire team as well.

After becoming the coach for the second time in July 2017, Team India played 21 Test matches under the coaching of Ravi Shastri, in which India won 13. While India tasted victory in 25 out of 36 T20 Internationals. Similarly, in the case of ODIs, under Shastri’s coaching, Team India won 43 out of 60 matches. In this way, India won a total of 81 matches under his coaching in the second term. It is worth noting that Ravi Shastri was also associated with the team while under coach Duncan Fletcher (2011–2015). He was the team director till 2014-16. Shastri took full responsibility of coaching after the 2015 World Cup.

Looking at India’s win-loss percentage after July 2017 in all three formats of cricket, India’s average in Test wins is 52.38 per cent, while in T20 International this average is 69.44 per cent. Team India’s win average in ODIs was very good and it was an average of 71.67. However, it is a different matter that despite Ravi Shastri’s performance in coaching, the Indian team missed out on winning the World Cup for the second time. The team also lost in the semi-finals at the 2015 World Cup.