Ravi Shastri: Leaving behind a legacy

The last few months have been exhilarating for Indian cricket. A generation-defining 2-1 Test series win in Australia and a come-from-behind 3-1 win over England on the home territory have not only cemented India’s place at the top of the Test rankings but even propelled them to the inaugural World Test Championship final against New Zealand in Southampton this June.

While the win in Australia was scripted largely by new faces such as Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur and T Natarajan, India’s demolition of England was enacted primarily by spin wizard R Ashwin and domestic veteran but Test novice Axar Patel. Starved of high-quality Test cricket for almost nine months, fans, both Indians and neutrals, were left mesmerised with the riveting action that unfolded Down Under and the turning tracks of Chennai and Ahmedabad.

One man who will be proud of these accomplishments, coming at a grim time as scores of Indians continue to battle a pandemic, is head coach Ravi Shastri. Unlike football or hockey where the coach/ manager gets plenty of praise for tactics and man-management, cricket doesn’t exactly reward the men behind the scenes in similar measure. It’s generally the captain who earns the plaudits for decision-making although an equal share of it may have been conceived by the think-tank. And when a player scores a century or picks up a fifer, it’s they who are spoken about a lot but the men who gave them tips to achieve the feat are seldom celebrated in the same breath. Well, that’s cricket!

When Shastri took charge of the Indian team in August 2017 for a second time following the exit of Anil Kumble under controversial circumstances, there was some trepidation. If many felt Kumble - India’s most successful Test bowler with 619 scalps and possessing an astute cricketing brain and loads of technical expertise - was treated unfairly, they weren't off the mark. In fact, Kumble was roped in as Shastri’s replacement in June 2016 and the team was soaring under his stewardship, posting Test series wins over West Indies (away), New Zealand, England, Bangladesh and Australia — the latter four at home.

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Those on-field successes, however, meant nothing as the working relationship between him and skipper Virat Kohli became "untenable", as Kumble put it.

It was quite clear at that time Shastri would return to his chair. He’d applied for a continuation in 2016 and was apparently miffed that he wasn’t handed the job. He had rescued the team out of the abyss in 2014 during the Duncan Fletcher era as technical director and powered India to the semifinal of the 2015 ODI World Cup in Australia. But some felt going back to Shastri could be a step in the wrong direction.

An establishment man who barely faulted a player when he was behind the mic as a celebrated commentator, Shastri was perceived to be a "yes-man" to alpha-male skipper Kohli. He was considered by some as nothing more than an Indian cricket's 'cheerleader' and appointing him as a coach could just end up making Kohli all-too powerful, at the detriment of the team. In short, the question was “why Shastri again?"

He only sings praises of the team, isn’t technically sound as some of the modern-day coaches… a lot was said and written about the Mumbaikar.

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Fast-forward to 2021 and Shastri’s accomplishments are unparalleled and may be hard to replicate by his successors. In fact, to borrow his own line, he’s hit the critics out of the park like a ‘tracer bullet’. He has master-minded not just one series win in Australia but two of them. Although no Indian team had ever won a Test series in Australia until the 2018 triumph, it didn’t receive the deserved adulation because Australia, following the sandpaper-gate, were without two of their best players — David Warner and Steve Smith - serving bans.

The one achieved this year, though, was undisputedly phenomenal. Except for David Warner, who missed the first two Tests due to a groin strain, Australia had their best men in all departments all through the series while India’s bowling line-up for the last two resembled not B but a C side. Battered and bruised, they fought like soldiers and it soon emerged how Shastri was at the helm of the once-in-a-generation performance.

First he strangulated the Australians with the middle and leg-stump line, a plan he conceived as early as June 2020, and then ended up redefining the career of Rishabh Pant by making it clear to him that he would be backed because he’s a special player but he needs to earn those stripes by losing a lot of ‘baggage’.

Known as ‘Mr Khadoos’ in his playing days for his steely determination and straight talk, a softer side of Shastri has emerged in the recent months. After India were bowled out for 36 in the Adelaide Test, Shastri, by players’ own admission, didn’t have any harsh words for anyone but instead tackled it with empathy. In fact, he’s been showering players plenty of it as they live in the mentally-taxing bio-bubble. He’s ensured the bubble doesn’t burst and the performance has remained top-notch.

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The ability to speak the players’ language is what has endeared Shastri to most in the team. While he may give a ‘kick up their backside’ when they err, he barely admonishes them in public, always protecting them from the glaring eyes of the media. Shastri exactly knows when to put his arm around and when to pinch the players when they go out of line. He’s a mentor, tutor, elder brother and statesman.

Shastri isn’t without faults either. He and Kohli have been guilty of making poor team selections on several occasions, like dropping Ajinkya Rahane for two Tests in South Africa in early 2018 and then playing two spinners on a wet and seaming Lord’s Test in the same year. The handling of Kuldeep Yadav, once proclaimed by Shastri as the main spinner for overseas Tests to now warming the benches following a total breakdown in confidence is not heartening. Shastri had often said something and done the exact the opposite. The 58-year-old has also been critiqued for getting what he wants.

But then, Shastri walks the talk. He came as a technical director when the team was at a low point and got his hands dirty. Already two series win in Australia stand as a testament to his coaching success. He has turned this Indian side into a fearless unit that won't back away from a good fight. They believe strongly in their abilities and nothing intimidates them.

The crowning jewel — a world title — though is missing. He has come close thrice, a final loss to Sri Lanka in the 2014 World T20 and two semifinals' losses at the ODI World Cups (2015, 2019). Two world titles are up for grabs this year, the World Test Championship and T20 World Cup at home. Gold there would the perfect glitter to embellish his stellar run.