There is no doubt about the fact that the Indian head coach Ravi Shastri is an ardent fan of the skipper Virat Kohli, he recently compared the latter with some legends like Sir Vivian Richards and the iconic former Pakistan captain Imran Khan.
Shastri said, “Virat is in your face, he wants to dominate and has a work ethic like no one else. He is as dominant as Sir Viv Richards. Whether it comes to discipline, training, sacrifice or self-denial, it is unbelievable. I think India is lucky to have a leader of that sort. He reminds me of Imran Khan in many ways – in the way he sets the example and sets the standards, and goes about defining it in his own way and leading from the front.”
However, Shastri is confident that Kohli has been evolving as a captain he will continue to do so.
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The head coach said, “As far as I am concerned, tactically, there is still room for plenty of improvement as captain. He has gotten better and better, and better, and I thought in the Australian Test series, tactically he outsmarted Australia. I still see more room across formats for him to evolve.”
Shastri also asserted that he young chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav has been considered ahead of the veteran Ravichandran Ashwin in the pecking order as India’s frontline spinner on foreign soil, especially after the five-wicket haul he had taken against Australia in the Sydney Test this year. Shastri made it clear that going forward, wrist spinners will be in vogue in Test cricket and Kuldeep is “already” ahead of Ashwin and Jadeja as country’s No.1 spinner.
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The head coach explained, “He plays overseas Test cricket and he gets five wickets, so he becomes our primary overseas spinner. Going ahead, if we have to play one spinner, he is the one we will pick. There is a time for everyone (referring to Ashwin’s poor fitness record in 2018). But now Kuldeep is our frontline number one overseas spinner.”
Cheteshwar Pujara was the best performer for India during the Australia tour as the visitors registered their first ever 2-1 series win, he also fetched the player of the series award for it. However, the same Pujara was dropped for the first Test against England in Birmingham and Shastri revealed how a minor glitch in his stance was corrected, which wasn’t entirely technical.
Elaborating more on Pujara, Shastri said, “It wasn’t a technical issue. It was in his posture and the way he stood at the crease. It was a small thing, which can happen when you have played day in, and day out. I felt it was an issue. We had to factor in if we wanted to take the risk of that first Test or get him right for the next 7-8 Tests. Or, take that chance of playing in all 8 Tests and he doesn’t have enough time to sort that.”
Since coming back from Australia, Pujara has played three back to back first-class games for Saurashtra, including the ongoing Ranji final in Nagpur and the coach reckons it’s time he takes some rest.
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Shastri added, “I feel like calling him from New Zealand and saying, enough Puji, take off your pads now and sit down! That guy, when he gets in, he smells the leather. He doesn’t let the bowler make him smell the leather. Pujara smells the leather, whether he is playing forward or backward defensive. No one smells the leather in defense better than Pujara. You can ask him if it is Christian Dior or Armani.”
