According to the former head coach of the country, many were opposed to Ravi Shastri taking over as head coach of the Indian national team. Shastri took over for Anil Kumble, who had left after an alleged altercation with Indian skipper Virat Kohli when the two met in 2017. In 2017, Shastri was reappointed as the head coach of the Indian national cricket team.

His stint ended as India was eliminated from the T20 World Cup 2021 in Oman and the United Arab Emirates early in the tournament. The Men in Blue, headed at the time by Virat Kohli, could not go beyond the Super 12. Additionally, Shastri said that many individuals were opposed to the choice of Bharat Arun as India’s bowling coach.

Ravi Shastri said that he is not directing any fingers at anybody

“Yes. They also did not want to assign me Bharat Arun as a bowling coach, which I appreciated. And, as history has shown, the same person they did not want to be the bowling coach went on to become the best bowling coach the country has ever produced.

In addition, I am not pointing any fingers at anybody in particular. Individuals in particular. There was an effort to guarantee that I did not receive the position. But that is just the way life is,” stated Shastri in an interview with Times Of India.

Under Arun’s leadership, India produced one of the most devastating pace assaults in the game’s history. Players such as Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, and Mohammed Shami have helped India win at home and performed well abroad under challenging situations.

Former Indian cricket Head coach Ravi Shastri had previously said that he was not the appropriate guy for the position, mainly when Indian cricket was in a state of flux owing to a lack of regular results on foreign land. Earlier in 2014, Shastri was appointed as the team’s director of operations.

“I felt like I made a mistake taking on this position since I was not cut out for it in many aspects. It was a matter of fate. After suffering back-to-back abroad defeats between 2012 and 2014, Indian cricket was in poor form again in 2015. They were relegated to the bottom of the standings across all forms,” Shastri said.

Despite India’s failure to win an International Cricket Council trophy during Shastri’s tenure, they rose to the top of the Test rankings and won a slew of bilateral series.

The Indian cricket team achieved the No. 1 rating in Tests during Shastri’s tenure as head coach, several foreign Test series triumphs in Australia, and victory in England and South Africa. Shastri’s time with the Indian squad ended with the side’s early elimination from the T20 World Cup. The team now has a 2-1 lead in the five-match Test series in England, concluding next year.