Ravi Shastri

At 61 years old, Ravi Shastri has this physical status:

Ravishankar Shastri (born 27 May 1962) is an Indian cricket coach, former commentator, cricketer, and current head coach of the Indian national cricket team.

He competed for the India national cricket team from 1981 to 1992 in both Tests and ODIs as a player.

Despite beginning his career as a left arm spin bowler, he later evolved into a batting all-rounder. Shastri was essentially defensive with his signature "chapati shot" (a flick off the pads), but he could certainly improve his strike rate as a batsman, but he could also raise his strike rate as required.

He had a limited number of shots against fast bowling due to his over-average height (he was 6' 3" tall) and an upright stance, but was able to put the lofted shot to good use against spin bowling.

Ravi played either as an opening batsman or in the middle order. In 1985, he was named Champion of Champions in the World Championship of Cricket in Australia.

He tied for the first time in first-class cricket for the first time in 1985.

He had been regarded as a future captain, but his image outside of cricket, injuries, and the tendency to lose form at crucial moments meant he captained India in only one Test match. In domestic cricket, he competed for Bombay and helped them win the Ranji Trophy for the second year.

He also played four seasons of county cricket for Glamorgan.

He was forced to leave at 31 years old due to a recurring knee injury.

In the games that India plays, he has made a report on behalf of BCCI.

He was the head of India's national cricket team for a period of eight months from India's tour of England until the 2015 World Cup.

He was appointed head coach of India's cricket team on July 13, 2017.

He was voted as the head coach of the senior men's Indian team on August 16th, 2019 and will remain in charge until the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup.

Personal life

Shastri, who is of Marathi-Mangalorean descent, was born in Bombay and studied at Don Bosco High School. He took up cricket as an adult. Don Bosco (Matunga), a basketball player from Don Bosco, reached the final of the 1976 inter-school Giles Shield tournament, losing to St Mary's, whose lineup featured two current Ranji players, Shishir Hattiangadi and Jignesh Sanghani. Don Bosco won the Giles Shield in 1977, the first time in the school's history. B. D. Desai, a Tatas and Dadar Union player, was his tutor at school. Although Don Bosco was not a major force in schools cricket, the R. A. Podar College, where Shastri later studied commerce, produced several good cricketers. Vasant Amladi and, in particular, V. S. "Marshall" Patil, were integral players in Shastri's success as a cricketer.

Shastri lives in Alibaug when not in Mumbai.

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Domestic career

He was selected to represent the Bombay squad in the Ranji Trophy last year in his junior year. He was the youngest cricketer to play for Bombay at 17 years and 292 days.

In 1980–81, an Indian under-19 squad was supposed to tour Pakistan. The National Coach Hemu Adhikari had Shastri in the coaching camp at the last minute. Shastri captained one of the two teams in a trial game and was later asked to lead the Indian Under-19 squad. The tour, on the other hand, was postponed. The team later moved to Sri Lanka, but the games were often interrupted by rain.

He had bowling figures of 6-61, which he took against Delhi in the 1979–80 Ranji final that Bombay lost, his only significant contribution in his first two Ranji seasons. Although playing against Uttar Pradesh at Kanpur in the next season, he was called up to the squad travelling New Zealand to support the injured left arm spinner Dilip Doshi. Shastri arrived in Wellington the night before the first Test. Geoff Howarth, the New Zealand captain, was the first to win in Test cricket. He took 3 wickets in four balls in the second innings, all to Dilip Vengsarkar's catches, bringing the second innings to a close match to New Zealand's. His seven wickets earned him the man of the match award in the third Test, while his 15 wickets in the series were the highest for either team.

The Ranji final of 1984/85 proved to be one of India's finest domestic cricket matches ever. The toss and batted were won by a sleepy Gavaskar. Before Bombay, he could barely close his eyes. He couldn't even close his eyes. 42 people were killed. Batting at No. 5, he scored his 20th and last Ranji Trophy century, beating Bombay to 333. Shastri was bowled when attempting to cut an arm-ball. In his last class match, Delhi was in early trouble before being rescued by Chetan Chauhan, batting with a fractured finger. Ajay Sharma, who was in his first season, scored a hundred and took Delhi's lead by nine wickets down.

The rules of the tournament specified that in the case of a draw, the team with the first innings lead would be declared the champions. Bombay went for quick runs as the day went by with two days and 100 minutes remaining. On the fourth day, a crowd of around 46,000 people attended the match, but the promoters ran out of tickets. Bombay defeated Delhi 300 to win in a day and ninety minutes after Shastri top scored with 76.

Except for the odd delivery, the ball spun slowly and allowed the batsmen enough time to play their strokes. Delhi reached 95 for no loss early on the fourth day and then collapsed. Chauhan's first wicket was declared out with the ball having spun across the field of the bat without even touching it. The game shifted dramatically, with the batsmen losing their heads. Gursharan Singh was lbw playing no stroke, Kirti Azad kept on, Surinder Khanna was stunned after a few slogs. Shastri was 8 for 91, but Bombay won by 90 runs. It was their 30th title in the 50th year of Ranji's championship.

He began to decline as a bowler after the tour of Australia in 1985-1986. Bombay lost in the semifinals of the Ranji championship to Haryana, but the Duleep Trophy was won by West Zone. In the semifinals against North Zone on a flat wicket at Trivandrum, his major contribution was as a bowler. North seemed to be the likely winner going into the final day, until he took 8 for 145.

In the quarterfinals and semifinal of the Duleep trophy, he scored hundreds, but West Zone lost in the second match to South on the first innings lead. In the Jaipur Test, Shastri's only other score over 50 was a poor 125 against Pakistan. He did well enough to be the man of the one-day serial. For the first one-day match against Pakistan, he captained India for the first time by scoring 50 runs and taking three wickets. In two thrilling finishes, he took four wickets at Calcutta and 69* at Hyderabad. He scored 52 in 40 balls at Nagpur later in the game, with India facing a major threat.

Glamorgan's 1987 contracted Shastri to play for them. He stayed with them until 1991, with a break in 1990 due to India's tour of England. Shastri's presence in the county, which finished at the bottom of the first class table in two of those years, did little to improve the county's fortunes. Shastri topped 1000 runs against Middlesex in 1989 and scored hundreds in both innings. According to Wisden, his best bowling results in the match against Lancashire was 7 for 49 (11 for 90), where he was bounced and turned and was unplayable. Shastri was already resentful to bowl, according to the almanack.

In one-day matches, 1988 was by far the best of the seasons for Glamorgan. They finished fifth in the Sunday League, up from 14 in 1987, and they progressed to the semifinals of the Benson & Hedges Cup. Shastri captured the top six hitter award for 1988's Sunday league matches with 14 sixes. In the MCC bicentennial match at Lord's in 1987, he was a member of the Rest of the World team.

Bombay dominated all four matches of the 1993-1994 Ranji Trophy, a rare feat in its own right – by large margins. Shastri captained the youth team in the knockout matches as the Test players were away. Bombay won by an innings and 202 runs in the pre quarter final, but they ran into trouble against Karnataka in the next round. Bombay lost their first six for 174 before Shastri and Sairaj Bahutule added 259 in six hours against 406, respectively. Shastri's individual rating was 151. Bombay won on the first innings lead after the best part of the day. Shastri scored 612 runs on the season and took 17 wickets at 15. Bombay lifted the Ranji Trophy after defeating Bengal in a low scoring final. It was their first championship since the resounding victory over Delhi nine years ago.

Shastri declared his retirement from first-class cricket in September 1994 when in Sri Lanka covering the Singer World Series.

International career

Shastri had gone from tenth in the batting order to being an opening batsman within eighteen months of his Test debut. "His quiet, sensible batting lower in the order," Wisden wrote on his first film, "raised promise of his growth as a good all-rounder, and his fielding was also a huge plus." He had batted in every position from one to ten by the end of his career. He abandoned his bowling in favour of his batting, as he revealed on his own. His appearances displayed this. However, his 1981 Irani Trophy record of 9–101 stood as a tournament record for almost 20 years.

That was the failure of the regular openers, Pranab Roy and Ghulam Parkar, that culminated in Shastri's entry into the Oval against England in 1982. In that match, he distinguished himself by scoring 66 runs. He was disqualified from four of the Tests that were scheduled in Pakistan due to an injury in his hand webbing. In the final Test at Karachi against Imran Khan's fast bowling (then at the peak of his career), he was forced to start for the first time in his career. In Antigua, he made another hundred against the West Indies. Indian Cricket was impressed enough to suggest that if given time, he might be one of the best batsmen in the Indian team.

Shastri was not selected to play in most of the 1983 World Cup's key matches. He again distinguished himself in his batting against the dominant West Indian pace bowlers later this year.

India toured Pakistan in October 1984 for the third time in six years. India's Lahore Test resulted in India's demise to 156 against Pakistan's 428, as a follower. India went into the last day trailing by 92 wickets but with a sixth wicket partnership of 126 between Shastri and Mohinder Amarnath, the team was saved by a sixth wicket partnership of 126. Shastri scored 71 points, while Amarnath made 101*. Shastri was even more fruitful in the upcoming Test at Faisalabad, where he scored 139 points and shared a stand of 200 with Sandeep Patil. Indira Gandhi's assassination of Indira Gandhi, the last Test and the remainder of the tour were postponed.

Shastri was already being groomed as a future captain, according to reports. Sunil Gavaskar, the Indian captain, had come to an end, and Kapil Dev, who had ruled India in the previous year, was due to replace him. Shastri seemed to be the next in line. In early 1984, he led the Young India side to Zimbabwe. He led the India Under-25 to an innings victory in November, the first defeat of England in a tour match in India for fifty years against the touring English team.

Around this time, Shastri began to open the cricket in one-day games on a daily basis. In October, he scored 102 against Australia in India's second century in ODI cricket, and he made the same score against England at Cuttack in December. In two matches of the 1983 World Cup, Shastri had played for Gavaskar and opened with Srikkanth. It was the third time they opened at Cuttack, and they set a new record of 188 for the first wicket. This relationship would lay the foundation for India's victory in the WCC earlier this season.

Shastri's Test matches against England continued Shastri's triumph. India defeated India in the Bombay Test thanks to wicket-keeper Syed Kirmani's 235 runs. His 142 improved on the 139 at Faisalabad as his highest score.

Shastri's 111 in 357 balls and 455 minutes in the third Test at Kolkata, but his innings were heavily interrupted by rain. Mohammad Azharuddin bowled out 214 for the fifth wicket, another Indian record. When India began the second innings late in the final day, he was sent to open, making him one of the few batsmen to bat on all five days of a Test.

In a West Zone Ranji match against Baroda, Shastri set a new record for Bombay against Baroda. His first century was played in 72 minutes and 80 balls, including nine fours and four sixes. Just 41 minutes and 43 balls were used to complete the second. His 123 ball, 113-minute 200*, set the fastest double-century in first class history, beating the previous record by 7 minutes and including 13 fours and 13 sixes. Six of the sixes were ruled out of a single over left arm spinner Tilak Raj. It exceeded the 58-year-old Indian record of CK Nayudu, who had scored 11 sixes against a traveling MCC team at Bombay Gymkhana in 1926–7. Shastri's unfinished sixth wicket stand of 204* with Ghulam Parkar, who contributed only 33 to the partnership, took just 83 minutes. Shastri took two wickets in four overs in Baroda's second innings.

The World Championship of Cricket in Australia was the first time overseas cricket matches were broadcast live in India except for a few series in Pakistan and the 1983 World Cup final. India won every match convincingly by the WCC. The WCC was intended to celebrate Victoria's 150th anniversary of ancestorship, but the finalists turned out to be India and Pakistan.

Shastri had a slow start to the tournament, but in the last three matches, she had fifties but not many. In the final, Srikkanth recorded three fifties and India scored a century in the opening stand against Australia and India. For every match, India went in with two spinners. It was also helpful that all the matches were held in Melbourne and Sydney, which have turning tracks and long boundaries. In five matches, Sivaramakrishnan and Shastri claimed 18 wickets between them.

Shastri was selected as the man of the series in this tournament for his 182 runs and 8 wickets. For his efforts, he gained an Audi 100. India customs waived the heavy duty on its import that would have normally been denied by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's special order.

India won the Rothman's Cup in Sharjah two weeks after beating Pakistan and Australia. Because India defended a total of only 125, the victory over Pakistan was particularly impressive. Shastri and Siva continued their fruitful relationship with the ball. Shastri was the Indian vice captain for the first time in this tournament. Before the tournament began, Gavaskar announced his decision to resign his captaincy at the end of the WCC. Former Australian captain Ian Chappell suggested that Gavaskar should continue as the captain for the sake of Indian cricket until Shastri could take over from him.

In the 1985–86 season, Shastri served as vice captain to Kapil Dev. For him, this season and the England tour of 1986 were both normal ones. In 1986–87, Australia, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan toured India. Shastri was instrumental in the Tied Test against Australia in Madras, scoring 62 and 48 percent respectively. When the Indian middle order failed and India fell behind in terms of running time, spinner Greg Matthews came in handy. He scored 121* in the final Test at Bombay. It was played in first and fourth gear as it became more popular. He hung around for about 30 minutes for his last run, but twice as long in the nineties. Despite this, he had six sixes, three of which came after he had reached his century. Bruce Reid, a cross batted heave that went over long, was one of the big six off left arm fast bowlers that went over long. At the time, six sixes in an innings was an Indian record. However, Dilip Vengsarkar, who scored 164* in the same innings, defeated him. They scored a record 298.6* for their sixth wicket.

He produced a 15-minute coaching series 'That's Cricket' in early 1987. On Sunday mornings, this was shown on the national channel Doordarshan. Even allegations of an affiliation with actress Amrita Singh were even mentioned.

India lost the 1986–87 series against Pakistan after losing in the final Test at Bangalore. Kapil Dev was widely chastised in the media for his captaincy. In the Reliance World Cup, the selectors retained him as captain from the 1987-1988 season. In the Reliance Cup, Shastri lost with the bat, but he and Maninder Singh, another left arm spinner, had a fruitful bowling partnership. India ranked highest in its class, but in the semifinals, it lost to England. When a win was still a possibility, Kapil Dev received more flak for skying a catch to deep midwicket.

Vengsarkar emerged as the most able candidate to overthrowrown Kapil at this time. He had a dream run with the bat, beginning with the series in England in 1986. The recently established Deloitte ratings (the frontrunner of the latest LG ratings) ranked him as the best batsman in the country in 1987. The Indian selectors have traditionally favoured the captain of the team over being the best player of the team. Kapil had been fired before the home series against the West Indies, but Vengsarkar had been appointed the Indian captain.

Vengsarkar's left arm was fractured in the third Test of his Test debut, while Shastri captained India for the first time in his Test career. India won the toss and elected to bat first on an under-prepared turning track in Madras. India defeated India by 255 runs to start the series 1–1. Narendra Hirwani, a debutant, was 16 for 136. Shastri did not do well with bat or ball except for this. He was the captain of seven of the eight one-day matches in West Indies, winning 7 of the eight one-day matches. In comparison, Vengsarkar received a six-month suspension from BCCI for writing newspaper columns. In April, Shastri became the captain of a three nations tournament in Sharjah. The other teams, Sri Lanka and New Zealand, were unbeaten, and India defeated India by a large margin.

In early 1989, India travelled to the West Indies. Shastri played the best innings by either side in the series, despite it being a disappointment overall. In the second Test, it was at Bridgetown. In the first innings, India trailed 56 runs and lost the six second innings wickets for 63 runs. Shastri was last out for a 107 out of 251 all out. Looking back on his career, he might have called this his best innings. Malcolm Marshall, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, and Ian Bishop were among the bowlers, but the pitch was difficult.

On the way back, several of the Indian players competed in an exhibition match in the United States. The players were suspended by BCCI for a week. Vengsarkar was fired after the suspension was later lifted, though the reason was later released. Srikkanth appointed Shastri and Shastri as the new captain and Shastri, who was also the deputy. Both of us were turned down from the tour of New Zealand in 1990 due to an indifferent series in Pakistan. Azharuddin led an experimental group dubbed the 'team of the nineties' by a selector.' The word became a joke within a few weeks. Shastri was recalled as the vice-captain for the tour to England in the summer.

Shastri's career was also a struggle before the England tour of 1990, where he scored two hundreds in the three Test rubber, earning two hundreds. In India's reaction to a big England score at Lord's, he started the innings for India with a 104 runs. Shastri played and missed often, but most of the runs came with his normal flicks and nudges. He grew confident, hitting Eddie Hemmings for two fours and a six in an over, and departed quickly after taking another big hit.

With 187 at the Oval, he led this. Harsha Bhogle, a journalist and commentator, holds that this innings is representative of several of Shastri's key initiatives:

Shastri scored his best score of 217 in the Irani trophy in the first match of the season and a top score of 88 on a mediocre wicket in the Chandigarh Test against Sri Lanka after the innings. In a one-day match a week later, he batted for 101* against the same opponents, finishing the century with two runs off the last ball. He scored 109 at Delhi, his fourth and last one day hundred in South Africa's first-ever ODI series. India played few matches at home at this time due to a string of cancelled tours.

India travelled to Australia for a five Test series, which would be followed by the World Cup at the end of 1991. It's called the Indian Summer by Channel 9's. The sequence was a tragedy for India – they lost four of the Tests – and there was a raging controversy surrounding umpiring controversy. However, Shastri and Kapil Dev's careers flourished in the finals.

In an early match in the World Series Cup, Shastri took 5 wickets for 15 runs against Australia. It was then one of the best bowling figures by an Indian in ODIs. The bulk of the wickets were gratuitously earned, though three batsmen were trapped on the legside boundary and another were stumped. He scored his second double century in Test cricket, the first by an Indian against Australia. Shane Warne, an Australian leg-spinner, was dropped in the sixties off his own bowling. He reached his 100 on the fourth day despite frequent interruptions by rain, and Warne brought up the 150. After nine and a half hours, he collapsed to a swollen shot at Warne, taking 206 with 17 fours and the two sixes, making it Warne's first Test wicket.

The knee injury that would have ended his career had also occurred during this innings, which had occurred for the first time during his career. India had four pace bowlers and no regular spinners at the game. By this time, Shastri had been little more than a part-time bowler. Pitching was getting spin by the end of the day. Shastri took four wickets in the second innings, and Australia barely beaten the clock to tie the game. With another spinner, India may have easily won the game.

The remaining WSC matches were based on the Sydney Test. The knee injury suffered in the second round against Australia Shastri aggravated the knee injury. He was made to stand and slog in the later stages of the innings. It was an inevitable mishit to cover after a few quick runs. He skipped the remaining two Test matches, both of which India lost. For a while it seemed unlikely that he would be able to participate in the World Cup, which was being hosted by Australia and New Zealand, but was forced to take the final step.

India had to beat Australia in 50 overs in their second match. The target was lowered to 236 in 47 overs due to a rain delay. Shastri was allowed to lose by a single run on his 25 runs; India went on to lose by a single run. He was blamed for the loss and suspension from the tournament's remaining matches.

South Africa will tour India for the first time in the coming season. Shastri opened in both Tests but failed to score runs. In India's one-day victory at Centurion park, the only bright spot was a 16 ball 27 not out. In the one-day matches of this series, he had batted down the order. Later, he said that for the first time he knew what his exact position was in relation to the World Cup cricket against Australia.

Following the South Africa series, India hosted England immediately. The knee injury recovered early in the series and kept Shastri out of cricket for eight months. He never represented India in international cricket again.

Coaching career

The former team captain, Shastri, was appointed as Head Coach for the national team by the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), which includes Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, and VVS Laxman in July 2017. He is currently earning Rs. 52,000 per month as a result of his work. 8 crore per year. Rs. 39.50 per person is charged. Anil Kumble's predecessor has 1.5 Crores more than him. The BCCI announced a contract extension for Shastri's deal as the World Cup 2019 was ongoing on June 13th. He was re-appointed as the head coach of the senior men's Indian team in August, with his current deal running until the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup in India.

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