Kohli’s choice for Shastri had no influence in coach selection: Kapil
mumbai — Ravi Shastri’s reappointment as head coach of the Indian team was not influenced by captain Virat Kohli’s public backing of the incumbent, Cricket Advisory Committee(CAC) chief Kapil Dev said on Friday.
Shastri was reappointed for a two-year period by the CAC, a decision that was expected. His term will again be up for review after the 2021 T20 World Cup in India.
“Not at all, because if we take his (Kohli’s) views we would have taken the entire team’s views too. We haven’t asked anyone. There was no scope for that,” said Kapil when asked if the skipper’s preference influenced the final decision.
Among all the candidates, Shastri’s record was unmatched as the team reached the No.1 ranking in Test matches under his guidance and won a series in Australia for the first time in 71 years.
On the flip side, India twice lost in the World Cup semifinals (2015 and 2019) with him at the helm but that didn’t seem to have had a bearing on the decision taken by the committee that also comprised Shantha Rangaswamy and Anshuman Gaekwad.
Asked about the team’s semifinal exits in ICC competitions, Kapil said, “If any manager don’t win (a World Cup) with any team, they should be sacked? No, you look at overall picture and we are not looking at that, we are looking what presentation he has given, we have gone by that.”
Since he came back in July, 2017 replacing Anil Kumble, whose differences with Kohli came out in the open, Shastri’s coaching record has been phenomenal. —