Ravi Shastri and Virender Sehwag after the matchh. (Source: Screenshot)
What was the best moment of India vs Australia 2nd ODI? Was it when Kuldeep Yadav picked up his hattrick? Was it when Virat Kohli gave a stylish send off to Mathew Wade or was it when Hardik Pandya took that nasty blow from Bhuvneshwar Kumar? No doubt all these were exceptional moments in the game. But, probably the most interesting moment of the match missed the eye of all. After India had defeated Australia, coach Ravi Shastri was seen giving hugs to the entire team. As he went past Virender Sehwag who had recently given some controversial statements about the selection of team India coach, Shastri stopped and was seen exchanging a few words with Viru.
The two men not just shook hands, but were also seen smiling. Shastri even gave Sehwag a pat on his shoulder. This was an interesting meeting as only a few days back, Sehwag while speaking to leading Hindi news channel had said that he didn’t become the Indian cricket team’s chief coach for the lack of patronage from the powers that be in the BCCI and will not apply for the position again.
“Dekhiye main coach isliye nahi ban paaya kyonki jo bhi coach chun rahe the unse mera koi setting nahin tha. (Look I couldn’t become the (India) coach because I didn’t have any setting (common slang for hobnobbing with decision-makers) with those who were in power of appointing the coach),” Sehwag told Hindi news channel ‘India TV’ during a chat show, as per a PTI report.
Sehwag had lost out to Ravi Shastri and had attacked the latter as well. He claimed that Shastri had initially told him that he will not apply for the post and had he known his intentions earlier, he would not have given his name.
“When I was in England during the Champions Trophy, I had asked Ravi Shastri that why he hasn’t applied for the post? Shastri then told me that he will not repeat the mistake which he had already made once. If Ravi had applied earlier, then I don’t think there would have been any chance of me applying for the post. I would have never applied,” Sehwag said during the no-holds-barred interaction.
