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Players Are Mentally And Physically Drained Ravi Shastri Singles Out Reason For World Cup Debacle

Players are mentally and physically drained: Ravi Shastri singles out reason for World Cup debacle

Indian head coach Ravi Shastri said that the players have become mentally and physically drained after constantly shifting bio-bubbles in the past six months.

Speaking to Ian Bishop in a pre-match interview, Shastri spoke about how the Indian team would have liked to have a bigger gap between the Indian Premier League and the T20 World Cup.

“First of all its rest,” Shastri stated after Bishop asked him how can India rebuild from this defeat.

“I am mentally drained. But I expect that at my age. But these guys are mentally and physically drained. Six months in a bubble and we would have ideally liked to have a bigger gap between the IPL and the T20 World Cup.”

He said that when the big games come, a drained mind would not be able to be as switched on as it should be. However, the coach said that it was not an excuse and that winning and losing is just part of the game.

Shastri would be making way for Rahul Dravid who is scheduled to take over the Indian team after the World Cup. Dravid could have Rohit Sharma has his captain in the next year leading up to the T20 World Cup in Australia.

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India overachieved under my tenure: Ravi Shastri bids goodbye to Indian coaching job

Outgoing head coach of the men’s senior team Ravi Shastri spoke on the sidelines of the stadium for one last time as the Indian coach in an interview with Ian Bishop. In a pre match interview to the Trinidadian, Shastri spoke about how they would have liked to have a bigger gap between the Indian Premier League and the T20 World Cup, indicating that bio-bubble fatigue might have been a big point of concern for the Indian team, coming into the World Cup. He further added that the Indian team was missing the x-factor in the team and they didn’t really try to win. Reflecting back on his tenure, Shastri stated that “winning in red ball cricket across the globe” was his biggest achievement as a coach and that India had overachieved under his tenure. “Always labelled as big bullies at home but this team has shown that they are more than that,” Shastri said about the Indian team. India are scheduled to play Namibia in their final Super 12 game on Monday, 8 November evening in Dubai. This will mark the end of Ravi Shastri era under whom India rose to prominent highs in red ball cricket but fell short in the ICC white-ball tournaments. Rahul Dravid is set to take over Shastri from the New Zealand series scheduled to begin right after the T20 World Cup.

Did Kohli drop a hint on Rohit Sharma taking over T20I captaincy?

While there are words speculating around who will replace Virat Kohli as the captain of the T20I side with him announcing to step down after the T20 World Cup, Kohli himself has dropped a subtle hint of who could be the man at the charge of India’s T20I future. Responding to the question over his career as the captain of the T20 side, Kohli said that the opportunity was an “absolutely honored” for him while also saying that Rohit Sharma, his long-term deputy has been involved in leadership process for a long time. “I was given the opportunity and I tried to do my best. But it's also time to create some space and move forward. I've been immensely proud of how the team has played. Now I think it's time for the next lot to take this team forward. Obviously, Rohit is here and he's overlooking things for a while now,” Kohli said. It should be noted that Rohit Sharma has always been the favored man to replace at the helm of Team India, at least in the shortest format for his rich legacy as the captain of the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League. Virat Kohli may also lose the ODI captaincy after the world cup as per some reports but nothing of that sort has been indicated yet either by the BCCI or Kohli himself.

T20 World Cup | James Vince replaces injured Jason Roy in England squad

England opener Jason Roy has been ruled out of the remainder of the ongoing T20 World Cup after injuring his calf in the team’s last game against South Africa. He pulled his calf while trying to run a single for his partner Jos Buttler and appeared to be in serious pain and disappointment during and after walking out of the field. He has been replaced by James Vince in the England squad for the next round of the tournament. Roy called the injury “bitter pill to swallow” and expressed sheer disappointment at missing out on the opportunity to play big games for his side. He extended his best wishes for his teammates and said that England are well poised to go all the way and lift the trophy on November 14. "I’m gutted to be ruled out of the World Cup. It is a bitter pill to swallow. I will be staying on to support the boys, and hopefully, we can go all the way and lift that trophy. It has been an unbelievable journey so far, and we have to continue expressing ourselves and concentrating on us,” Roy said in a statement released by the ECB. "The rehab has already started, and even though I’ve torn my calf, I’m going to give myself the best chance of being ready for the T20 tour of the Caribbean at the start of next year." England are all set to take on New Zealand in the second semi-final of the tournament and although they have a lot of reliable options to replace Roy at the top of the order, his batting form and aggression, especially against pacers would be missed by the Eoin Morgan’s side.

VVS Laxman frontrunner to replace Rahul Dravid as head of NCA: Report

Former Indian batsman VVS Laxman is the frontrunner to replace his former teammate Rahul Dravid as the head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)’s priority list, ESPNcricinfo reported. The post of the NCA head was vacated by Dravid after he resigned from the post to take up the responsibility of becoming the head coach of the India senior men side. Laxman has been involved as an analyst and commentator for the host broadcaster of games in India and a mentor for the Sunrisers Hyderabad and hence he will have to give up on both those roles before signing up for the role of NCA head If Laxman will take over the responsibilities of the NCA, he will have to shift his base to Bengaluru as the BCCI has mandated the person heading the academy must be based out of the same city housing the academy that forms the backbone of the Indian cricket.