‘You always have a gun to your head’: Ravi Shastri on life as Team India’s head coach

NEW DELHI: Former India head coach Ravi Shastri feels that coaching is tougher than playing cricket or working as a commentator. He said the job comes with a lot of responsibility and pressure because the coach has little control over what happens when the players step on the field.Shastri, known for his straightforward nature and energetic commentary, shared his views on the three roles in an interview with Sky Sport’s Ian Smith.When asked which one he considers to be the toughest, the former India coach chose coaching.“Yeah, the hardest part would be coaching, right. You see, no, because once the players leave and they get on the field, you’re not in control. You have the bat, the ball when you’re playing, the microphone when you’re broadcasting. But once the players leave, you know, you can just twiddle your thumbs. And it comes with a lot of responsibility. You know, you don’t have that expectation COV, you know, ground, COV, you know game by game, so you can’t hide behind that,” he said Shastri.He also talked about the pressure this job brings and his satisfaction with the results.“You know, you always have a gun to your head. But if you pull it off and you’re successful, I mean, then the rewards, it’s very rewarding. It gives you a lot of respect. And you know, it makes you enjoy what you’re doing and it gives you that kind of satisfaction of working with nothing else,” he said.Shastri was the head coach of India from July 2017 to November 2021. Under his tenure, the team achieved several major milestones, including two historic Test series victories in Australia.India won their first ever Test series in Australia during the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. They followed that up with another memorable 2-1 series win in 2020-21, despite several injury setbacks.India under Shastri also held the No. 1 position in the ICC Test rankings for 42 months and reached the final of the inaugural Test World Cup in 2021. The team also made it to the semi-finals of the 2019 ODI World Cup.

‘The only way to stay here is if we’re passionate’

Shastri also looked back on his journey in broadcasting and talked about what kept him connected to cricket for so many years.He said his passion for the game was the biggest reason for his long association with the sport, despite opportunities to explore other areas.“(On his journey to broadcasting) it’s amazing how life can take you to different places. And especially cricket life. I mean, he captured us. I mean, you obviously love the game. I mean, you know you have to stay involved because in India you would have many, many opportunities to break away and do other things with your character. But you stayed with the game. And I love it. Shastri said we can love the game.“If you’re not passionate about the game, you don’t love the game, you’re not going to be here that long and you’re not going to be here day in and day out showing that kind of enthusiasm for every game. You know, whether it’s with you, how you commented on that World Cup final, you know, tight end, you called it at the end. Great. And we’ve called a lot of finals at the end, you know, somebody gets it, you know, a privilege.” game, he understands the discipline of television, you know, and then working on it for such a long time is fun,” he said.

Which quality do you think is most important for a successful cricket coach?

More than 3,000 users shared the opinion today

More than 5,000 users have already voted today

More than 3,000 users shared the opinion today

Share an opinion