Tag: Ravi Shastri

Former England spinner Monty Panesar has thrown Ravi Shastri’s name into the debate surrounding the English team’s coaching future, suggesting the former India head coach would be an ideal candidate.

England’s struggles on the ongoing Ashes tour of Australia have once again put Brendon McCullum’s methods under the microscope.

The visitors are trailing 0-3 in the five-match series with two Tests still remaining, having effectively lost the Ashes inside the first 11 days of the contest.

The disappointing showing has reignited questions over England’s tactical approach and the long-term effectiveness of the much-hyped ‘Bazball’ philosophy.

McCullum was appointed England head coach in 2022 by ECB managing director Rob Key following a heavy Ashes defeat in Australia.

His early impact was dramatic, as England, under McCullum and captain Ben Stokes, won 10 of their first 11 Test matches and appeared rejuvenated in both approach and results.

However, that momentum has faded over time. Since the initial surge, England have struggled for consistency, failing to win a five-match Test series against either Australia or India and losing 16 of their next 33 Tests.

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The current Ashes campaign has further exposed those issues, particularly in Australian conditions.

Monty Panesar believes Shastri’s proven success in Australia makes him a standout option should England look for a change at the top.

“You have to ask who actually knows how to beat Australia,” Panesar said. “How do you exploit their weaknesses mentally, physically and tactically? For me, Ravi Shastri should be England’s next head coach.”

Shastri’s credentials in Australia are well established. During his stint as India’s head coach, the team secured historic Border-Gavaskar Trophy wins in Australia in both 2018/19 and 2020/21.

The latter triumph was especially remarkable, coming after India were bowled out for 36 in Adelaide and despite a tour ravaged by injuries to key players.

Despite the mounting pressure, McCullum has publicly stated his desire to continue in the role, while admitting that his future may no longer be entirely in his own hands.

The former New Zealand captain remains under contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board until the end of the 2027 ODI World Cup, a period that also includes the next home Ashes series scheduled for the same year.

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Former India cricketer Ravi Shastri has revealed the conversation with batting maestro Virat Kohli before his retirement from Test cricket.

Virat, 36, took retirement from the longest form of the game on 12 May ahead of the five-match Test series against England.

Virat Kohli has represented India in 123 Test matches since his debut in 2011 against the West Indies. Throughout his remarkable 14-year career, he has scored 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85, including 30 centuries and 31 half-centuries.

The 37-year-old batter has also captained India in 68 Test matches, winning 40 and losing only 17.

Ravi Shastri revealed the chat with Virat Kohli before his retirement, stating that he had decided on retirement.

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“I did speak to him about it, I think a week before that [his announcement] and his mind was very clear that he’d given us everything,” he said in a recent interview.

“There were no regrets. There were one or two questions I asked, and that’s a personal conversation which, you know, he mentioned very clearly, there were no doubts in his mind, which made me think, ‘Yes, the time is right’. The mind has told his body that it’s time to go,” he added.

However, Ravi Shastri said he was amused by Virat’s retirement decision. He noted that mental exhaustion can significantly impact an athlete, stating that even if one is in peak physical condition.

“Virat surprised me because I thought he had at least two-three years of Test match cricket left in him,” Ravi Shastri said.

“But then, when you’re mentally fried and overcooked, that’s what tells your body. You might be physically the fittest guy in the business. You might be fitter than half the guys in your team, but mentally, you’re well done, as they say, then it sends a message to the body. You know, that’s it,” he concluded.

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Former India cricketer and renowned commentator Ravi Shastri has urged the selectors to make surprise inclusions in the India squad for the five-match Test series against England, set to commence in June this year.

England will host India for a five-match Test series, marking the beginning of the next cycle of the ICC World Test Championship from 2025 to 2027, with the first Test scheduled at Headingley on June 20.

This will be Team India’s first Test series after the 3-1 defeat against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

While speaking in the latest episode of the ICC review, Ravi Shastri called on the selectors to include young batter Sai Sudharsan, hailing him as an all-format player for India in the future.

“I see this young man, Sai Sudharsan, for all formats of the game,” Ravi Shastri said. “He seems like a class player, and my eyes would be on him certainly.”

The left-handed batter is yet to make his debut in Tests for India and has played for Surrey in the County Championship in 2023 and 2024.

Ravi Shastri emphasized his experience playing in England, noting that he will be at the top of the list for inclusion.

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“Being a left-hander in England, knowing English conditions, and just his technique, the way he plays, I think he’ll be top of the list for me from the outsiders wanting to get into this side,” added Shastri.

Shastri also supported the inclusion of a left-arm seamer in the squad, keeping in mind the seam-friendly conditions.

“I’ll be looking for a left-armer. I’ll be keeping an eye on which left-armer is in good form, and try and squeeze him in there as the sixth (bowling) option.

“It could be anyone. It could even be a white-ball specialist. I don’t like this thing when they say someone like Arshdeep Singh is a ‘white-ball specialist’,” Ravi said.

Ravi Shastri also stressed keeping an eye on his red-ball record, praising his strategic thinking.

“I’ll keep a close eye on his red-ball record as well and the number of overs he bowls. If he can bowl 15-20 overs for me, he might very well be in the mix because he’s got the mindset. He’s a thinking bowler and I need a left-armer. It’s just that,” he concluded.

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Former Australian and Indian great players Ricky Ponting and Ravi Shastri predicted the two former champion teams as the finalists of the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025 set to begin on February 19 in Pakistan. 

Ponting and Shastri made bold predictions about two teams reaching the finals due to their recent performances in major tournaments.

The duo made these predictions in a bumper episode of The ICC Review while speaking to the host Sanjana Ganesan.

While sharing his views in the episode Ricky Ponting predicted Australia and India to play in the big final.

”It’s hard to go past India and Australia again,” Ponting told The ICC Review.

“Just think about the quality of players in both countries right now, and you look back in recent history when these big finals and big ICC events have come around and inevitably Australia and India are there somewhere” said the Australian legend.

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Meanwhile, Ponting also named Pakistan as another team that could pose a significant challenge to the two teams.

“The other team that is playing some really good cricket at the moment is Pakistan, Their one-day cricket over the last little bit has been outstanding.”

“We know they’re not always the most predictable team in those big tournaments, but they seem like they’ve sorted things out a little bit” Ponting concluded.

Moreover, along with tipping the Indian team to go all the way in the tournament, Former India head coach Ravi Shastri predicted England and South Africa as the other semi-finalists of the mega event.

The eight-team ICC Champions Trophy will consist of 15 matches over 19 days and will take place in Pakistan and Dubai.

In Pakistan, Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Karachi will be the three venues to host tournament play. Each Pakistan venue will feature three group games apiece, with Lahore hosting the second semi-final.

Lahore will also host the final on 9 March, unless India qualify, in which case it will be played in Dubai. Both the semi-finals and the final will have reserve days.

The three group matches of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 involving India, as well as the first semi-final, will be played in Dubai.

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Former India coach Ravi Shastri said on Friday that he expected skipper Rohit Sharma to “pull the plug” on his red-ball career after being left out of the fifth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in Sydney.

The 37-year-old opener has had a poor series and the writing was on the wall when he failed to show up for India’s pre-match press conference.

Coach Gautam Gambhir instead fronted the media on Thursday and declined to throw his support behind him.

Stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah insisted at the coin toss Friday that Rohit had “opted to rest” for the good of the team rather than being forced out.

Ravi Shastri believes Rohit jumped rather than was pushed but suspects it is the end of his 67-Test career.

“It still is a brave call for a captain to own up and say, ‘I’m prepared to take the bench in this game,'” Shastri said while commentating on Fox Sports.

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“If there was a home season coming up he might’ve thought of carrying on, but I think he might just pull the plug at the end of this Test.

“It’s not that India don’t have youngsters. There are very, very good players in the wings and it’s time to build.

“Tough decisions, but there is a time for everything.”

Rohit Sharma quit T20I cricket last year after lifting the World Cup, but is yet to call time on his ODI career. He missed the first Test in Perth for the birth of his second child and has not looked fully engaged since, failing to get past 10 runs in any of his five innings.

His recent form comes on the back of a similarly poor return during India’s 3-0 home series loss to New Zealand during October-November.

“Our captain has shown his leadership, he’s opted to rest in this game,” Bumrah said at the toss. “So that shows there’s a lot of unity in our team, there’s no selfishness, whatever is in the team’s best interest, we are looking to do that.”

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Former India coach Ravi Shastri on Wednesday advocated for a two-tier structure in Test cricket with relegation and promotion to ensure the survival of the red-ball game.

His comments follow the blockbuster fourth Test between India and Australia that drew a record 373,691 spectators to the Melbourne Cricket Ground over five enthralling days.

That beat the previous record of 350,534 at the same ground during the 1936-37 Ashes series against England, when Donald Bradman ruled the sport and Tests were played over six days.

Shastri, now a commentator, said he could not remember “a bigger advertisement for Test cricket” and said it proved the five-day game continued to hold its own in the face of ever-increasing T20 franchise cricket.

But the 62-year-old said it also reinforced his view that for Test cricket to survive, the biggest teams needed to be playing each other more often.

“To break crowd records that have stood for nearly a century… is testimony to the fact that when the best teams play, the toughest and best format of the game is still alive and thriving,” he said in a column for The Australian newspaper.

“It was also a sound reminder to the ICC (International Cricket Council) that the best should play the best for Test cricket to survive. I will say that there’s too much of a clutter otherwise.

“This match further emphasises why we need a two-tier system with the top 6-8 teams and then include promotion and demotion. You will not get these kinds of crowds if you don’t have two proper teams playing.”

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The ICC has been contemplating a two-tier system for years to keep the format competitive but the plans have never got off the ground.

A proposal for a de facto premier league featuring the top seven sides was on the agenda of the world governing body in 2016. It was scrapped after the powerful Indian board led a backlash.

While India stand to gain from playing more matches against teams such as England and Australia, the BCCI said at the time the cost to smaller cricketing nations was too great.

Ravi Shastri also said the Melbourne game proved that Tests should remain five days, amid chatter that they should be reduced to four to help streamline schedules.

“The theatre in the end on (day five) Monday was further proof of why we need five days for a classic Test match,” he said.

“However, if you don’t create a two-tier system, you’ll continue to have unmatched teams up against each other and then it’s very unlikely they’ll be able to take a game into the fifth day.

“Then there’ll always be talk of four-day Tests.”

Australia won the Test by 184 runs deep into day five and lead the series 2-1 heading into the final clash in Sydney this week.

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Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has issued a stern warning to those doubters of Virat Kohli, emphasizing that the star batter could make a resounding comeback in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.

Kohli has been under fire lately due to his below-par form, having scored a solitary half-century and averaging only 21.33 in five Test matches.

During India’s first-ever clean sweep at home in a three-match Test series against New Zealand, Kohli managed only 93 runs from six innings at an average of 15.50.

However, Shastri, who served as the head coach during Kohli’s tenure as captain, has shown his faith in the star batter.

“Well, the King is back in his territory. That’s all I will tell them,” Shastri stated in The ICC Review while responding to a question about Kohli’s critics.

The former all-rounder emphasized that Virat Kohli earned the title of ‘King’ due to his dominant batting performances in Australia, and he is likely to replicate his previous successes in the upcoming series.

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“When you’ve earned that title after your exploits in Australia, it will be on your [opponent’s] mind when you go out to bat.”

For the unversed, Kohli led India to their first-ever series victory in Australia during the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He holds a stellar record in Australia, having scored 1352 runs across 13 Tests at an average of 54.08 with six centuries and four half-centuries.

Ravi Shastri advised Virat Kohli to remain calm and play naturally, avoiding reckless dismissals like in the New Zealand series.

“Your juices are flowing, you’re charged up. It’s again a case with Virat. You want to see calmness because at times you are overeager to get out there and throw the first punch,” Shastri said.

“But I think that calmness in the first half an hour where he gets out to bat or in the first three innings of the series will be extremely important. If he can be calm and play the game at his own pace rather than being in a hurry, I think he’ll be fine.”

It’s worth noting that the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will start from November 22 in Perth. The second match will be played in Adelaide from December 6, followed by the third Test in Brisbane, scheduled from December 14-18.

The iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) will host the fourth match from December 26, while the final Test will be played in Sydney from January 3.

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Former India cricketer and renowned commentator Ravi Shastri picked the blockbuster clash between fierce rivals Pakistan and India as one of his favourite moments from the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.

Inaugural champions India came from behind in the nail-biting final of this year’s mega event against South Africa to end their 11-year-long ICC title drought.

The former champions remained unbeaten in the entirety of the tournament but were tested massively on two occasions — against arch-rivals Pakistan in the group stage and in the final against South Africa.

Pakistan, while chasing 120, were 80/3 with set batter Mohammad Rizwan at the crease. But Jasprit Bumrah, the eventual Player of the Tournament, cleaned up the wicketkeeper batter to force an astounding comeback of the Men in Blue.

Meanwhile, Ravi Shastri, in the latest episode of the ICC Review podcast, termed Rizwan’s dismissal as his favourite moment being an Indian supporter as it eventually set their tone going forward in the T20 World Cup 2024.

“I think India-Pakistan because India were made to fight there and realise what the right combination should be going forward in the tournament. That and then of course the final, those final five overs [from the T20 World Cup final],” Shastri said.

“I’d say one was Jasprit [Bumrah] getting Mohammad Rizwan. Extremely crucial, because that could have tilted the balance of the game. And it happened on the first ball of a new spell,” he added.

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Ravi Shastri then picked Jasprit Bumrah’s death over bowling in the final against South Africa as his other favourite moment.

“Brought back into the attack and then getting it to reverse and sneak through bat and pad [of Marco Jansen], I thought that was a very, very important wicket at that time,” Shastri recalled.

“Hardik [Pandya] had done the main damage by taking Klaasen [in the previous over] but I thought back-to-back, that over and that wicket was extremely important.”

“He just showed the world what it takes and you know, it’s not often in your career when you have a ball in your hand and you say, do this and the ball does that,” Shastri said of Bumrah.

Lauding Bumrah, Ravi Shastri went on to compare the lanky pacer with all-time greats like Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.

“Very few have done it, I thought Wasim [Akram] and Waqar [Younis] had it in their prime when they played white-ball cricket. Shane Warne had it where he could literally tell the ball, go there, pitch there, hit leg stump,” Shastri said.

“People who are on top of the game have that ability. I think Bumrah had that in this World Cup.”

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Former Indian captain and renowned commentator Ravi Shastri has welcomed Gautam Gambhir’s appointment as the head coach of India, calling it a refreshing change for the team.

Former opening batter Gambhir, earlier this month, was confirmed as the new India head coach, preceding Rahul Dravid, who stepped down after overseeing the team’s perfect T20 World Cup 2024 campaign.

Ravi Shastri, who also worked as the head coach of India, expressed confidence in Gambhir’s abilities and ideas, which resonate with the requirements of modern-day cricket.

“He’s contemporary, he just had a great season in the IPL. I think he’s the right age where he’s young, he’ll come with fresh ideas,” Shastri said on Gambhir on the ICC Review.

“He knows most of the players, especially in the white-ball format, having been part of teams in the IPL. So I think it’s refreshing.”

For the unversed, Gambhir recently served as the Kolkata Knight Riders’ mentor in the recent edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), leading them to their third title.

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Prior to that, Gambhir had mentored Lucknow Super Giants during IPL 2022 and 2023 and helped them reach the playoffs in both editions.

Shastri also expressed his belief that Gautam Gambhir would experience significant advantages from being part of a mature and well-established team.

“And we know with Gautam, he’s a no-nonsense guy. He’ll have his ideas as well. And the good thing for him is he’s got a mature team. He’s got a settled team, a mature team,” he added.

“I think even though you might think you’re mature, you might benefit from some fresh ideas. So I think it’ll be an interesting time.”

However, the former head coach thinks that the major challenge for any coach is player management.

“Obviously, player management becomes the key as a coach. So it’ll be interesting to see how he goes. I think he’s got the tools, he’s got the goods for the job and he’s got the experience.”

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AHMEDABAD: Rohit Sharma on Wednesday angrily dismissed suggestions his India side had become overconfident, calling the criticism from former head coach Ravi Shastri “absolutely rubbish”.

India will look to clinch the series against Australia with victory in the fourth Test starting Thursday in Ahmedabad and book their berth in the World Test Championship final.

The hosts took a 2-0 lead in the four-match series to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy before losing the third Test in Indore in just over two days.

Shastri accused the team of “a little complacency, a little bit of overconfidence”.

Skipper Rohit hit back, saying: “Honestly, when you win two games and people on the outside feel that we are overconfident, it’s absolutely rubbish, because you want to do your best in all four games.”

He called his side “ruthless” more than arrogant.

“Ravi himself has been in this dressing room, he knows what sort of mindset we have,” said Rohit.

India lost the previous match by nine wickets on a viciously turning pitch at Indore, but the track at the world’s biggest cricket stadium is expected to give the batsmen some respite.

Rohit though has had enough of the talk about pitches.

“How challenging the pitches are? How much is it turning? How much is it seaming? We are trying to keep all of that away,” said Rohit.

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