Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has finally broken his silence on the 2019 ODI World Cup squad that caused a lot of stir during that time. Reflecting on the squad, Shastri questioned the logic of having three wicket-keepers in the team.
The controversy reached its peak when Ambati Rayudu was dropped in favour of all-rounder Vijay Shankar. It came even after the then captain Virat Kohli publicly backed Rayudu to be India’s No.4 batsman.
Just Ordered a new set of 3d glasses to watch the world cup 😉😋..
— Ambati Rayudu (@RayuduAmbati) April 16, 2019
Speaking of the episode, Shastri firstly asserted that he had no hand in the team selection. In a conversation with the TOI, Ravi Shastri said:
“I had no say in that (team selection). But I wasn’t okay with three wicketkeepers being picked for the World Cup. Either Ambati or Shreyas could’ve come in. What was the logic in having MS Dhoni, Rishabh [Pant] and Dinesh [Karthik] all together?”
He added:
“But I never interfered with the selectors’ work, except when I was asked for feedback or as part of a general discussion.”
India played dominant cricket throughout the group stages before losing to New Zealand in the semifinal to crash out of the 50-overs World Cup. Chasing a target of 240 in Manchester, India collapsed to 24 for 4 before half-centuries from Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni kept the Men in Blue in the hunt. India, eventually, went down by 18 runs and got knocked out of the event.
Meanwhile, Ravi Shastri’s tenure as India head coach came to an end after the ICC T20 World Cup in October. He will go down as one of India’s best coaches taking Indian cricket to greater heights in the last couple of years.
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