‘Experience is not bought or sold in the market’: Team India head coach Ravi Shastri

Team India head coach Ravi Shastri believes that having the same set of people as his support staff will help build continuity and thus, will also help the team as the players share extremely good rapport with Bharat Arun and R Sridhar. The former Indian all-rounder also said that he has gained a lot of experience as a player and also as a broadcaster and hence, this will now come in handy in his role as the coach of the Indian team.

“I don’t like to be judging myself, but the fact is that I have been around for that long. I have been in the game four decades now. I was 17 when I played for Mumbai and played for India when I was 18 and I have not missed a single season either as a player because after that I became a broadcaster, then a coach and director of the team,” Shastri told Gulf News.

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“So obviously having travelled and watched the game closely and having the exposure it does help. When you have that kind of experience it does help when it comes to man-management and communication skills. Experience is not bought or sold in the market. You got to put in the yards to go the distance,” he further added.

After their heartbreaking exit from the semi-finals of the World Cup, the Indian team bounced back in some style when they blanked West Indies in the three formats in the just-concluded series. Their next challenge will be against South Africa where Virat Kohli and boys are slated to play a 3-match T20I series followed by a 3-match Test series.

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“When a team is playing in this fashion over five years it is important that you get behind the team and be positive rather than try and create any trouble. This kind of consistency I have not seen any time,” the head coach said about the team.

First Published: Sep 10, 2019 17:09 IST