Page 2 - Ravi Shastri

WTC Final: You've got to miss IPL for 20 days of preparation, says Shastri

After India's World Test Championship loss to Australia, India's former head coach Ravi Shastri responded to Indian captain Rohit Sharma's statement about needing "20-25 days to prepare"

WTC Final: India lacked positive mindset by opting to field says Shastri

Disappointed by India's defensive approach, former head coach Ravi Shastri has said Rohit Sharma did not show a "positive mindset" by electing to bowl in the World Test Championship final against Australia here. India left out veteran offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin and preferred a four-pronged pace attack to go with left-arm spin bowling allrounder Ravindra Jadeja as they chose to bowl under overcast conditions. The decision backfired as Steve Smith (95 batting) and Travis Head (146 batting) shared an unbroken 251-run partnership to put Australia in a commanding 327/3 heading into day two. "From what came out today, the mindset was to field if they won the toss, hence the choices in the bowling department -- four seamers one spinner," Shastri told ICC after the end of the opening day's play on Wednesday. "If the mindset was positive you'd want to bat, rough it out in the first session and see if you can put 250 on board. Don't think too big 250-260 and if the conditions got better

Emotional homecoming for Hardik Pandya at Wankhede, says Ravi Shastri

Hardik Pandya played for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL from 2015 to 2021. Pandya has helped Mumbai Indians win four titles during this period

Moment Iyer was injured, you had to look in Rahane's direction: Shastri

Former head coach Ravi Shastri feels that Ajinkya Rahane was a certainty to make the Indian squad for the World Test Championship final against Australia once Shreyas Iyer was ruled out due to lower-back stress fracture. The WTC final will be played at the Oval in London from June 7-11. Shastri, who coached the Indian team for six out of seven years between 2014 to 2021, sarcastically commented that people who presumed that the former India captain made it to the Test team on basis of three IPL knocks, "must have been on holiday when he scored 600 plus runs in domestic cricket." "I'm so glad he's made it to the side. He batted beautifully in these two-three games he's played in the IPL, has looked in great touch. And let's not forget the experience he has. The moment Shreyas Iyer was injured, you had to look in that direction," Shastri told ESPN Cricinfo. Rahane's pedigree is such that he always had a shot, considering his contribution as a skipper to one of India's greatest Test .

Some players have become permanent residents of NCA: Ravi Shastri

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has hit out at injury management of some of country's premier bowlers, who he feels have made the National Cricket Academy (NCA), their permanent residency. While Shastri didn't take any name, his obvious reference was Chennai Super Kings seamer Deepak Chahar, who has broken down at least thrice in match situations in the last eight months after being declared fit by Nitin Patel-headed Sports Science & Medical team at NCA. "Let's put it this way: there are quite a few in the last three or four years who are permanent residents of the NCA. Soon, they'll get a resident permit there to walk in any time they want, which is not a good thing at all. It's unreal," Shastri said sarcastically on ESPN Cricinfo's digital video. Chahar is struggling due to recurrence of his left hamstring injury while tearaway quicks Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna have undergone surgeries in New Zealand for lower back stress fracture. Shastri, who was India's head ...

India can bolster batting if Rahul keeps wickets in WTC final: Shastri

Former India coach Ravi Shastri has backed KL Rahul to seal his place as a wicketkeeper-batter for the World Test Championship final at The Oval in June, saying his presence will strengthen the team's batting lineup. Rahul has a good record in England but he was dropped from the playing XI after the first two Tests against Australia at home due to poor form. The 30-year-old from Karnataka, however, made an impressive return, slamming a match-winning 75 not out in the first ODI against Australia in Mumbai on Friday night. Shastri feels Rahul can play as a wicket-keeper in the WTC final, especially after KS Bharat couldn't produce the goods in the absence of an indisposed Rishabh Pant. "He (KL) has really done well to keep the selectors interested ahead of the WTC final," Shastri told Star Sports. "Two things, one for the ODI series when Rohit Sharma returns and the other for the WTC final... India can bolster their batting if Rahul can keep wickets. "Rahul can bat in the middle-or

This is what a little complacency, overconfidence can do: Ravi Shastri

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has slammed Rohit Sharma & Co for their nine-wicket loss to Australia in the third Test at Indore, pointing out that the defeat came due to a little bit of complacency and overconfidence.

India should aim for 4-0 win in Border-Gavaskar Trophy, says Ravi Shastri

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri believes the Rohit Sharma-led side should have the mindset to win 4-0 over top-ranked Test team Australia in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Gill should get nod, vice-captains shouldn't be automatic choice: Shastri

Former India coach Ravi Shastri wants in-form batter Shubman Gill to be in the playing XI ahead of vice-captain KL Rahul in the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar series, beginning in Nagpur on Thursday. The former India all-rounder also said vice-captaincy should not guarantee one a place in the playing eleven if someone like Gill is hitting the sweet spot with monotonous regularity in white-ball cricket. Picking his XI for the opening game of the four-Test series, Shastri also said no one comes close to Suryakumar Yadav at No.5, and the middle-order T20I batter should get his preferred position in the series. "Shubman or Rahul (selection) depends on the team management, what they think. Obviously, you'd want to go with what you've been doing in the past, but form becomes critical. "Someone's hitting it real sweet and it's coming out of the centre of the bat. Then, you know, you wake up, and say, 'listen'," Shastri said on the ICC Review on Wednesday. "I've been watching Gill an

Indian cricketers 'absolutely fine' playing IPL, domestic cricket: Shastri

Former India left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan concurred with Shastri's thoughts and felt that he doesn't see any reason for the current cricketers to play in a particular T20 league

Duleep trophy incident highlights the very masculine art of sledging

West Zone captain Rahane sent his teammate to the dressing room because of sledging at a recent match

Pant's shot-selection in India's Super Four defeat to Pak under scanner

Pant was also seen explaining to the India skipper his reasoning behind playing that shot

Keep Test cricket to top six teams; respect quality over quantity: Shastri

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri stated that Test cricket should be restricted to only the top six teams in the format.

Ravi Shastri calls for organising fewer T20Is to counter scheduling issues

The month of July 2022 has seen the issue of hectic scheduling in cricket and prioritisation of franchise T20 leagues being reignited

India were defensive and timid on day 4, says former coach Ravi Shastri

India's "timid" and "defensive" batting approach in their second innings allowed England to make a comeback in the rescheduled fifth Test on the fourth day, reckons former chief coach Ravi Shastri

No one remembers bilateral T20 series, play shortest format in WC: Shastri

Shastri, whose tenure as India coach ended last year, said he doesn't "remember a single (T20) game in the last six-seven years as coach of India, barring the World Cup."

IPL 2022: Rishabh Pant should bat in 'Russell mode', suggests Ravi Shastri

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has suggested that Rishabh Pant should not think much and bat in the Andre Russell "mode" if the wicket-keeper batter wants to get the best out of himself and help Delhi Capitals in the ongoing IPL 2022 season.

Virat Kohli is 'mentally' overcooked, needs a break, says Ravi Shastri

Batting stalwart Virat Kohli is mentally "overcooked" and needs to take a break from cricket in order to serve the country for at least another six-seven years, feels ex-India coach Ravi Shastri. Kohli has been going through a lean patch with just two 40-plus scores to show in last seven innings for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the current IPL season. The 33-year-old from Delhi, who hasn't scored a century in the last 100 matches across formats, had stepped down from T20 captaincy both for India and RCB and also quit Test leadership, while he was removed from ODI skipper's role. Shastri feels the likes of Kohli needs to be handled with care and empathy amid the COVID-19 restrictions which has confined players inside bio-bubbles. "I am going straight to the main guy here. Virat Kohli is overcooked. If anyone needs a break, it's him," Shastri told Star Sports. "Whether it's 2 months or a month-and-a-half, whether it's after England or before England. He needs a break because he ha

After Chahal's revelation, Ravi Shastri proposes life ban for offender

Taking exception to Yuzvendra Chahal's allegations of physical harassment by a player in his early IPL days, Shastri suggested that the offender be never allowed to come near a cricket field.

Giving up of captaincy might be a blessing in disguise for Kohli: Shastri

Former India coach Ravi Shastri said that relinquishing the captaincy may make Virat Kohli start playing more freely now and it might be a blessing in disguise for the prolific batting star.