Ravi Shastri doesn't regret hosting book launch, says overachieved as India's coach

Having defeated Australia on two occasions and given England a tough time as well defeating all teams in white-ball cricket in their own backyards, which he calls “ultimate” achievement, India’s head coach Ravi Shastri has said that he has decided it is a perfect time to move on from Team India.

He went a step further and rated the past few years when the men in blue rose to new heights in international cricket amid turbulent times of the Covid-19 pandemic as the “most satisfying moment” of his four-decade-long career in the game. He said that those triumphs in testing circumstances make him feel that he has "overachieved" as the coach of the Indian cricket team.

However, he was cognizant of the fact that India have not won an ICC trophy under his watch and said that a triumph in the upcoming T20 World Cup will be an “icing on the cake”.

“I believe so because I’ve achieved all I wanted. Five years as No 1, to win in Australia twice, to win in England. I spoke to Michael Atherton earlier this summer and said: ‘For me, this is the ultimate – to beat Australia in Australia and win in England in Covid times.’ We lead England 2-1 and the way we played at Lord’s and the Oval was special,” Shastri said in an interview with The Guardian.

“We’ve also beaten every country in the world in their own backyard in white-ball cricket. If we win the [T20] World Cup that will be the icing on the cake. There is nothing more. I believe one thing – never overstay your welcome. And I would say that, in terms of what I wanted to get out of the side, I’ve over-achieved.”

Shastri has been a bullish character all his life be it as a cricketer, commentator or coach. He has given the very famous mantra of “take the pitch out of the equation” and doesn’t believe in holding back either in terms of playing fire with fire in tactics or opening up with his perspective in the press.

The 59-year-old got into the eye of a storm as he was the first one among Indian support staff to contract Covid during the fourth Test of the series against England at the Oval. When the development was discovered and it created a big issue as India pulled out of the last Test scheduled to be played at Old Trafford, British papers and journalists ran for his head and pinned the blame on him for hosting a book launch of his upcoming book titled Stargazing.

The man who doesn’t live his life with half measures has no 'regret' for hosting the event and instead ruled out the possibility of contracting the virus during the book launch. He also said that the playing conditions were not exclusive for the players and hence pointing fingers at his book launch was not sustainable.

“I have absolutely no regrets because the people I met at that function were fabulous. And it was good for the boys to get out and meet different people rather than constantly being in their rooms. At the Oval Test, you were climbing stairs used by 5,000 people. So to point a finger at a book launch?” Shastri asked.

He also conceded that he was aware that his book launch will be made a scapegoat of India’s pull out but he speculated that he might have got infected in Leeds as he said that there were no restrictions and segregation in place for the players and general public after the country opened up with normal lives.

“They tried to make it that way but I wasn’t worried because incubation probably takes weeks. There were about 250 people there and no one got Covid from that party. I’ve not got it at my book launch because it was on the 31st [August] and I tested positive on 3 September. It can’t happen in three days. I think I got it in Leeds. England opened up on 19 July and suddenly the hotels were back, lifts were back. No restrictions,” Shastri asserted.

The coach was asked about his involvement in India’s decision to not play in the final Test. He cited his non-involvement as he was not there in the dressing room in Manchester after testing positive in London. 

“No, because I was in isolation. I was in London,” he argued.

However, he said that the players became reluctant to play as the second physio of the side Yogesh Parmar had treated some five or six players and as soon as he tested positive, the fear gripped the team.

“I didn’t know who had got it. I didn’t know [the physio] got it suddenly and tested positive. He physically treated five or six players. I think that’s where the issue started. We were aware that the incubation period meant that someone might get it in the middle [of the Test]. 

A lot of players had their families there. So it became a situation where you don’t know what that player is thinking. He’s got a young kid, you know, he’s got to think of them. It was a little, I would say, touchy,” Shastri reasoned.

Ravi Shastri is all set to leave the Indian side after the upcoming ICC World T20 but he along with Virat Kohli have led a paradigm shift in Indian cricket. Yes, a bare cabinet in terms of an ICC trophy would be hurting both of them but their achievements in terms of the overall development of the team can’t be downplayed.