Ravi Shastri gives Virat Kohli his space which extracts the best out of him, states Ashish Nehra

Since Ravi Shastri’s appointment as the head-coach, India have gone from strength to strength with an appearance in the 2019 World Cup final followed by a win against Australia Down Under. While majorly it has been the efforts of the players but the unique combination of Shastri-Kohli has made the Indian team a tad bit aggressive. 

Kohli has always backed the former all-rounder and vice-versa, which makes their partnership stand out from the others in the past. The former Indian pacer, who has also shared the dressing room with Virat Kohli stated that the 58-year-old gives Kohli the right amount of space to extract the best out of him. 

“Ravi Shastri gives Virat Kohli his space, that he needs. Virat Kohli knows the type of person Ravi Shastri is and what can be extracted from him,” Nehra said on Star Sports’ Cricket Connected chat show, reported Hindustan Times. 

Away from their relationship, Nehra threw light on Ravi Shastri’s leadership, calling his ‘motivation skills’ as his biggest strength. Incidentally, Shastri’s coaching tenure has also coincided with the rise of India’s pace attack, which has left a long-lasting impression on the opposition. Against Australia, the pace attack accounted for 48 of the home side’s wickets. However, Nehra pointed out that it has to be a 50-50 partnership between the coach and the captain for a side to progress. 

“Ravi Shastri is a great motivator, that is Ravi bhai’s strength. He gives you a lot of confidence. If you are stuck in quicksand till your neck, he will ask you to push with your hands twice and you would come out. Virat Kohli also likes leading from the front. Both have similar personalities. So, it is very good between the two of them,” he added.

“It is not that all the time they agree on things but few things you need to let it go. It’s not like that the captain is the last decision-maker or coach is the last decision-maker. For me, it has to be a 50-50 partnership,” Nehra said.