Ravi Shastri is the right choice but he needs to justify it, believes Sourav Ganguly
Getty Images
While asserting that Ravi Shastri was the right man for the India head coach job, Sourav Ganguly added that the coach needs to justify it with some silverware. The former skipper also went on to say that the team, which is filled with stars, needs to figure out a way to win knockout games.
Post the entire Anil Kumble-Virat Kohli fiasco, the BCCI and the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), which included Ganguly, decided to hand over the reins of the national team to Ravi Shastri in 2017. Reports had emerged that Ganguly was not very keen on replacing Kumble with Shastri a couple of years ago but this time around the former India skipper has a different outlook. However, Ganguly was adamant that Shastri has been given a long leash but it is time he delivers some silverware.
"Ravi is the right choice. They (Kapil Dev-led CAC) didn't have too many choices as not many had applied," Ganguly said, reported India Today.
"Ravi has been doing this for five years (except one year of Anil Kumble) and now been given this responsibility for two more years. So I don't think anyone else in history has got such a long time with the team. He is the right choice but he now has to justify. He has two T20 World Cups ahead and in such big tournaments, India needs to find ways to win them," Ganguly said.
Shastri was at the helm, though not in the capacity of a head coach, when India went Down Under for the 2015 World Cup and suffered a semi-final exit. Four years on with Shastri leading the team again, India suffered the same fate as they were knocked out at the semi-final stage by a resolute New Zealand. Ganguly believes that the Indian team has a lot of talent but they need to figure out a way of winning knockout games in ICC events.
"The team was capable and it still is but you have to start winning big games," Ganguly added.
"The team has no dearth of talent. A team that has Virat , Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Shikhar Dhawan is not short on talent. But it's also true that we lost the semi finals in 2015 World Cup, in the 2016 T20 World Cup and now in 2019 World Cup. They will have to find a way to win knockout games. That is the puzzle they need to solve. They need some luck, take some risks and find a way,”
