Ravi Shastri has had one of the most successful tenures as the head coach of India. However, before he was the head coach, he served as the Director of Cricket of the Indian team in 2014. In 2016, the BCCI's Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), which included Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, and VVS Laxman, bypassed Shastri and selected Anil Kumble as the head coach. This decision led to a highly publicized public fallout between Ravi Shastri and Ganguly. Years later, the former India all-rounder and head coach has opened up on this removal.
Ravi Shastri recently said that the CEC committee wanted to abolish the position of team director and hence asked him to apply as the head coach. However, he felt that he deserved to continue on the basis of merit, and there was some ulterior motive behind his removal.
"In 2014 I took over; I was the director of the side, came in 2016. They said, no, we don't want any director now. You apply for a head coach position. And there should have been no reason why I should not have carried on on sheer merit. So there was obviously some other reason, some motive behind why you were shafted out. Okay," Ravi Shastri said in an interaction with Republic TV.
Ravi Shastri also admitted that he was hurt at this call because he had given his heart and soul in building the team and helping them achieve success.
{{/usCountry}}Ravi Shastri also admitted that he was hurt at this call because he had given his heart and soul in building the team and helping them achieve success.
{{/usCountry}}That hurt me. You know, that hurt me; if I look back at my career, that hurt me a lot because you had given your heart and soul in getting the team to where it was and you could see, you know, the, the fruits being, you know, being delivered in a matter of time. Now and then you had to go and sit out," the former India head coach said.ALSO READ: In Sourav Ganguly's metaverse, no job is beyond him: From TV host and BCCI chief to franchise strategist and now Delhi Capitals coach
'It was a bad knock on the knuckles'
Ravi Shastri further said that he learnt a lot of lessons after his ouster as the team director. He then went back to commentary, even though his exit hurt him for a while. However, he came back as the head coach in 2017 and had a successful tenure till 2021.
"So I said, okay, you know, it hurt you for a while. Then I went back to commentary, carried on with the game. I said, okay, that was a good experience for a year and a half. It taught me a lot, you know; it got me back into the dressing room. It taught me how the players think. In the modern era, how Gen Z thinks. You know, and, you know, leave it at that. It was, it was a a bad knock on the knuckles," Shastri said.
"But anyway, you took it, you moved on, and then you got the opportunity again. And, you know, it's again, like in cricket, you know, when you come back, you come back stronger. And you know, what happened is history," he added.