5 aspects addressed by Kohli & Shastri before the Australia tour
Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri recently addressed the media just before leaving for the all-important tour of Australia. What was different in this press meet as opposed to others that the duo has been a part of, was that all the criticisms faced by them after a poor show in England and South Africa were duly addressed, without any sparks flying or issues being hid under the carpet.
It was refreshing to see that the Indian captain and Indian coach were not blind to the flaws, unaware of what the people thought of them or wore a mask in order to avoid answering tough questions.
Following are the 5 major criticisms that they have been facing in recent times and the apt answers the duo gave regarding the same :
#1 The Kohli-Shastri alliance
After India's abysmal performance in England, stones were thrown by the media on the coach Ravi Shastri and his contribution to the Indian team. Stalwarts like Sourav Ganguly openly criticised Ravi's involvement as a coach in the Indian team despite him being a part of the COA committee.
People also speculated that had Kumble been the coach on tours of South Africa and England, Kohli wouldn't have committed the selection blunders that he did and the scoreline would have been different.
People also speculated that Kumble was thrown out for his opinions were contrary to the Indian captain and that Ravi Shastri was the coach just because he agreed to whatever the Indian captain said.
Clarifying this criticism, Virat Kohli quoted " About Ravi Shastri saying 'Yes' all the time, that is the most bizarre thing I've heard. I don't think there's anyone who has said "No" to me more than him in Indian cricket. He's one guy I can speak to for an honest opinion and he'll tell me if something doesn't need to be done, doesn't need to be done. I've made more changes to my game listening to him than anyone in the past."
Further, Kohli also said that it was Shastri's contribution that made players like himself and Dhawan come out of their shells after a disastrous tour of England in 2014. Also, his man-management skills were supreme, something that is very vital in cricket at the highest level - thereby ending all the debates on the captain-coach combination.
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