Former Team India head coach Ravi Shastri has responded to Ravichandran Ashwin’s recent statement where he admitted on being labelled as a second choice behind Kuldeep Yadav in overseas Tests by Ravi Shastri had crushed him.
Days after Ashwin’s revelations, Shastri has indeed clarified that Kuldeep Yadav was given chance since he bowled well in Sydney and took a fifer when Ashwin didn’t play in 2019. Ravi Shastri stood by his words and he admits he was glad that he hurt him since it made Ravichandran Ashwin do something different as he would have taken this as a challenge.
“[R] Ashwin did not play the Test in Sydney and Kuldeep [Yadav] bowled well. So, it’s fair I give Kuldeep a chance,” Shastri said in a conversation with Indian Express e.Adda. “If that hurt Ashwin, I am very happy. It made him do something different. My job is not to butter everyone’s toast. My job is to state facts without agenda,” Ravi Shastri said at an event.
“If your coach challenges you, what will you do – go home crying and say I won’t come back? I, as a player, would take it as a challenge, to prove the coach wrong. If my statement on Kuldeep hurt Ashwin, I am glad I made that statement. It made him do something different.”
“The way Ashwin bowled in 2019 and the way he has bowled in 2021 is chalk and cheese. About throwing Ashwin under the bus, he need not worry because I had told the bus driver to stop 2-3 feet short. The message to Ashwin in 2018 was that he had to be fit. He has worked on that and look how’s bowling now. He’s world-class,” Shastri added.
“I felt crushed” – Ravichandran Ashwin on Ravi Shastri’s comments
In a recent interview with Cricket Monthly, Ravichandran Ashwin revealed that he felt crushed by Shastri’s remarks.
“… I felt crushed. Absolutely crushed. We all talk about how important it is to enjoy your team-mates’ success. And I was happy for Kuldeep. I have not been able to get a five-for but he has a five-for in Australia. I know how big it is. Even when I have bowled well [at other times], I haven’t ended up with a five-for. So, I am genuinely happy for him. And it’s an extremely happy occasion, to win in Australia,” Ashwin had said.
“But if I have to come and partake in his happiness, and the success of the team, I must feel like I belong there. If I feel like I am being thrown under the bus, how am I supposed to get up and come for a party to enjoy the team’s or team-mate’s success? I went back to my room and then I spoke to my wife. And my children were there. So we were able to, you know, shrug it off, and I still made it to the party, because, end of the day, we had won a massive series,” he added.
Since then, Ravichandran Ashwin has had his redemption as he played a huge role in the next Australian series down under in perhaps the greatest series win in Indian cricket history.
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