The ‘Champion of Champions’ Ravi Shastri has always had a strong presence in Indian Cricket. Whether it be during his playing career or when he had the mic during commentary. One cannot ignore what Shastri says or do even after retiring long ago from international Cricket. The current head coach of India Ravi Shastri still manages to attract several eyeballs. He wears his heart on his sleeves and still grabs attention and makes headlines. Shastri is controversies favourite child and there have been many instances when Ravi Shastri has landed himself in controversy.
Ravi Shastri was a terrific performer for India throughout his career. The spinning all-rounder knew his strengths and weakness as a player and tried performing at his best for his side. Once Shastri the player said goodbye to Cricket, his opinions in the commentary box still helped him remain a powerful figure in Indian Cricket.
Sometimes Shastri has landed himself in controversies with his statements and at times with his actions. He may not realise it but Indian cricket fans have an opinion about everything he does or says. The head coach of India is still very much part of every Cricket fans lives.
We try and find out what are those top 5 instances when Ravi Shastri landed himself in controversy:
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5. Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar
Ravi Shastri after losing the Test series against England 3-1 away from home ended up making a bold statement. The head coach when talking to media said that the current Indian test team is the best Indian team to tour away in the last 15-20 years. Responding to this big statement former India player Sunil Gavaskar had a fitting reply for Shastri. Gavaskar said that his side in the 1980s won more matches in England and West Indies.
Sunil Gavaskar said “Previous teams have also won Test matches away from home. I think these views of (Shastri) are perhaps only he can speak about it. What I can say is in 1980s Indian team has won in England and West Indies”.
Gavaskar also took a dig at the current Indian team which lost back to back series in England and South Africa in 2018. Gavaskar was clearly not impressed with the comments made by Shastri and decided to tell him the instances when India won away from home in his era.
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4. Taking a nap during the match
Being an Indian coach is never easy as all eyes are on you all the time. India was placed comfortably in a test match again South Africa at Ranchi. The shutter bucks caught Ravi Shastri taking a nap in the middle of the match which surprised everyone. Photos of Shastri having a snooze became viral on social media and several memes were created.
Indian Cricket fans did not hold themselves back and criticised Shastri for this incident. Interestingly one year before this Shastri was caught taking a nap in England during a test match. Shastri clearly wasn’t bothered and slept during a Test match again. However, with this instance, Ravi Shastri landed himself in controversy.
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3. Ravi Shastri and Sourav Ganguly
Both Ravi Shastri and Sourav Ganguly are two of the most prominent names in the history of Indian Cricket. Both of them are known for their aggressive style since their playing days. Shastri and Ganguly have never gotten along with each other. History suggests that the two always had clashing opinions about everything and nobody is stranger to this.
Back in 2016, Anil Kumble pipped Ravi Shastri and became the new coach of the Indian Cricket team. Sourav Ganguly was part of that committee that had a say on the selection of the Indian coach. Shastri after this called the selection process as ‘disrespectful’ and held Ganguly responsible after not being appointed as the head coach.
The current president of BCCI reacted to Shastri’s comment and said: “If he thinks Sourav Ganguly is responsible for this, he is living in a fool’s world”.
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2. Absurd comments after India’s win
India won a memorable test against Australia in the first test match of the series at Adelaide. The exciting game got extremely close in the end that India finally wrapped up. The head coach after the match gave broadcaster Sony a small interview. Ravi Shastri was exceptionally delighted with this win and got carried away while giving this interview.
When he was asked how was the dressing room feeling after the match got close he said, “Sach bole toh goti muh mei agya tha”. This absolutely nonsense and unwanted statement surprised everyone on social media. Shastri found this funny but the fans did not and trolled him heavily on Twitter afterwards.
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1. Anil Kumble resigning as the head coach
When Anil Kumble resigned as the head coach of India it sparked a huge controversy. The fans were stunned by this decision as Kumble was doing a fair job in his tenure as the Indian Coach. Several reports suggested that Kumble and the India captain Virat Kohli did not get along really well.
Rumours were that Virat Kohli wanted Ravi Shastri as the head coach for team India. Kohli was constantly in touch with the BCCI and suggested them to replace Kumble as the coach.
Following the incident, Committee of Administration (COA) member Diana Edulji wrote an email in which she clearly mentioned that “rules were broken”, to replace Kumble with Shastri as the coach.
She also questioned the selection process behind Shastri’s appointment as the new coach. Even after the COA (Cricket Advisory Committee) had chosen Kumble over Shastri, BCCI surprised everyone when they extended the applications for the head coach. Shastri then came into the fray and applied for the post again and finally somehow became the Indian coach.