Indian head coach Ravi Shastri has often stepped away from the spotlight for his more distinguished colleagues. His contribution as a cricketer, expert, mentor and now coach is worth its weight in gold, something that was duly acknowledged when he received a Special Commendation at CNN-News18 Indian of the Year 2017 Gala in Delhi.

The lanky all-rounder who also bowled is best remembered for his performances in 1985 when he was the block of Team India that won the Benson and Hedges World Championship of Cricket down in Australia. He scored an unbeaten fifty in the final against Pakistan was adjudged the Player of the Series.

Talking about the tournament, Shastri said, “After the 1983 World Cup final, winning the World Championship of Cricket in Melbourne, and that too by beating arch-rivals Pakistan in emphatic style has to count as the best moment for me.”

The Indian coach added, “The fact that it was the first day-night match shown on TV in India makes it more special. The recall value is also much greater especially because it was an India vs Pakistan final.”

Also, present alongside Shastri was India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. A big cricket fan himself, Jaitley emphasized during Shastri’s playing days Indo-Pak matches were moved evenly contested.