Following the world cup 2019 debacle, there had been a lot of speculation that would be replaced and somebody else would be brought in. Many capable contenders were also considered for the post of the team India coach. But it seems that after a round of interviews with Ravi Shastri himself, along with two others have given the same conclusion as before. Ravi Shastri has been retained as the head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team. He has been given a two-year extension till the end of the World T20 in 2021. It seems that he will remain on the helmet of India cricket, hopefully guiding it to greater glory.
The Kapil Dev-led Cricket Advisory committee (CAC), which had been deputed to select the new coach, interviewed Shastri and four others in Mumbai on Friday. Based on the interview they gave Ravi Shastri the first order of preference.
Ravi Shastri has been the India head coach since July 2017, during which India have won a Test series in Australia, beaten South Africa, Australia and New Zealand in ODIs away from home and won the 2018 Asia Cup. An unprecedented era of victories had come rolling in, bringing him as well as Virat Kohli many accolades.
In 21 Tests since July 2017, when Shastri has been coach, India won 13 Tests with a victory percentage of 52.38. In T20Is, this record is 25 wins from 36 games, with a win percentage of 69.44. The ODI record is even better, with 43 wins in 60 games and a success rate of 71.67.
The only blip in his record is the fact that India got knocked out at the semi-final stage in both the 2015 World Cup (when he had been Team Director) and the 2019 World Cup. But Ravi Shastri will definitely try to get back his lost pride at World Cup T20 in 2021.
He may have made quite a few crucial mistakes during the world cup, but seems to have learnt on how to manage the team better. The complete and methodical domination in the Caribbean, in both T20s and ODIs, indicates that he has been doing most things correctly.
