Ravi Shastri Bids Adieu as Team India Head Coach

Team India’s outgoing head coach Ravi Shastri felt “emotional” as it was time for a curtain-raiser on his four-year stint with the side, on Monday.

Team India’s outgoing head coach Ravi Shastri recollects his “tremendous” journey with the Indian cricket team; he said he desired to make a difference, which he did during his stint with the Virat Kohli-led side.

Barring the below-par show in the ongoing tournament, the Men in Blue have performed exceptionally well under coach Shastri and skipper Kohli.

“It has been fantastic. When I took over this job, I said in my mind I want to make a difference and I think I have. Sometimes in life, it’s not all about what you accomplish, it’s what you overcome,” Shastri said before the India-Namibia game.

“And what these guys have overcome over the last five years, the way they have travelled across the globe and performed in every part of the globe in all formats of the game will make this – irrespective of what’s happened here – as one of the greatest teams in the history of the game,” he said.

Shastri’s tenure would be known for the outstanding performance of the Indian Test side touched this year when they beat invulnerable Australia 2-1 on their home ground and took a 2-1 lead against the Joe Root-led England in the five-match series. However, the last Test had to be cancelled following a bio-bubble breach in the India camp.

Rahul Dravid the New Head Coach

Previous Indian, skipper Rahul Dravid, was appointed as the head coach of the senior side last week, and he will take over the reins from Ravi Shastri after the ongoing T20 World Cup. Bid farewell to the team, cricket fans across the country took to social media to thank him for contributing to the Indian cricket team.

Virat Kohli Bids Goodbye Hug to Ravi Shastri

Emotions ran high as cameras captured India captain Kohli hugging head coach Shastri, followed by spinner R Ashwin and bowling coach Bharat Arun after India’s victory over Namibia in their last T20 World Cup 2021 match. 

All’s well that ends well. But did it end well for the Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri combination? In terms of ICC tournaments, it indeed didn’t.

But the warm embrace between Kohli and Shastri after KL Rahul hit the winning runs in India’s last T20 World Cup match against Namibia told a different story. It was a hug signifying no regrets.

Yes, deep down, they would be hurting for not taking India to knockouts of ICC tournaments for the first time in eight years, yet they would also know they have done enough to be remembered as one of India’s most successful captain-coach duos. 

The writing was on the wall. India had no chance of making it to the semi-finals, and both Kohli and Shastri knew it was the end of their journey together. But like they say, it’s not the end until it has ended.

Emotions ran high as cameras captured India captain Kohli hugging head coach Shastri, followed by spinner R Ashwin and bowling coach Bharat Arun following Inda’s 9-wicket win in Dubai on Monday. 

Kohli’s last match as India’s T20I captain and Shastri, Arun’s previous day as India’s coaching staff member. The hug, therefore, was anything but the ones they exchanged after all other Indian victories.