R Ashwin remains silent when he was asked about Ravi Shastri
What's the story?
Indian off-spinner R Ashwin remained mum when he was asked about the appointment of India's new coach Ravi Shastri. He backed it up by saying appointing a new coach or a support staff is not related to him and he won't take a call on it as it will be unfair for him to do so.
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"I think, the new coach or the new support staff, it does not come under my jurisdiction, it is not something I will take a call on. I am not being diplomatic. It will be unfair for me to pass a comment on that. Likewise always, the Indian team moves on, India moves on (and) we have to find out in course of time, how it is going," he said at a promotional event for a finance bank.
In case you didn't know...
Last week, the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) that includes the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly, appointed former Indian all-rounder and team director Ravi Shastri as the successor to Anil Kumble as the new Indian coach. Shastri's tenure at the helm will be until the 2019 World Cup.
Also read: List of questions asked to the Indian coach applicants
Details
After the resignation of Anil Kumble, the CAC interview interviewed five cricketers which included the likes of Virender Sehwag, Lalchand Rajput, Richard Pybus, Tom Moody and Shastri himself before appointing the former Indian all-rounder as the coach.
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R Ashwin had a successful time when Shastri was the team director from 2014-2016 as the offie did a remarkable job in the 2015 World Cup, Test series against Sri Lanka, South Africa and the brief T20I leg in 2016.
What's next?
India tour Sri Lanka for a three match Test series starting on July 26 in Galle followed by a five-match ODI series and a one-off T20I. This series will also be Shastri's first major assignment as an Indian coach.
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Author's Take
Cricketers face a lot of questions in their day-to-day life. But, we can't expect them to answer every single question as it might come back to haunt them if their opinion does not go well with the higher members in the team set-up. Keeping that in mind, Ashwin decided to remain diplomatic when he was asked about Shastri and he cannot be blamed for doing so.