Live Score
Cricket Teams
Cricket Players'These are not school kids, they are millionaires': Ravi Shastri cracks the whip on India's sharp decline in bowling
Addressing the concern, former head coach Ravi Shastri admits that India's bowling and fielding as of late has shown a steep decline and explained how the management is to blame for it.
Back when Ravi Shastri was the head coach of the Indian cricket team, its fast bowlers became a potent force to reckon. The combination of Shastri and former captain Virat Kohli took India's bowling to the next level, where they would regularly pick up 20 wickets in Test matches away from home. In ODIs and T20Is too, India could defend any total knowing that their pacers were going to breathe fire. The pace duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami and spinners Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja provided India with plenty of ammunition and was a huge reason behind India's dominance in world cricket.
However, with the end of Shastri's tenure, the same spark seems to have gone missing. In Tests overseas, the Indian bowlers have lost defending good enough totals – such as 242 in the Johannesburg Test earlier this year and 370-plus against England in Birmingham. The cracks have appeared more in T20Is as India have repeatedly conceded big totals – in fact they have bled more than 200 runs six times in 2022, a big contrast to when Shastri and Kohli were in charge. Addressing the concern, Shastri admits that India's bowling as of late has shown a steep decline and explained how the management is to blame for it.
"(Yes) Man-management is the key, these are not school kids, they are millionaires, each one has a mindset of his own, how you deal with those players is extremely important. You should know how to crack the whip, when to speak to the guy and what platform, is it individual, one to one, that kind of experience in not bought and sold in the market. You have got to have it. I think, I had it," Shastri told Ayaz Memon at a 'Meet-the-media programme' at the Mumbai Press Club.
Shastri pointed out another area which he feels requires immediate attention, India's fielding. Besides bowling, the standard of ground fielding and catching has dipped considerably and Shastri believes that is another reason behind India allowing the opposition score 200-plus scores consistently.
"The emphasis on fitness becomes very critical. In my time we had the Yo-Yo test. A lot of people laughed at it. The test was never for selection, it was for creating awareness among the players. It made a massive difference, not just in the way they played, but the way they moved on the field," he said. "What is worrying (now) is the number of times you have allowed the opposition to score over 200 runs in the last few months. People will blame the bowling, but it is also the fielding."
