Opinion - Ravi Shastri's return as India head coach sends mixed signals

In the end, it was on expected lines. Virat Kohli, the Indian cricket team skipper, had given his backing for Ravi Shastri to continue as the coach of the side after their exit from the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup semi-final against New Zealand. Kapil Dev, who headed the Cricket Advisory Committee which was created to appoint the new head coach, backed Kohli's opinions. When Kohli and Kapil had given the backing, the stage was set on Friday for Shastri to get a two-year extension.

Ever since Shastri was involved in the Indian cricket team in his first stint as team director and in his second as the coach, the team has had plenty of highs and some prominent lows. The current situation of Kohli's Indian team is that of the South African side in the 90s and early decade of the 21st century - bilateral series bullies but stumbling in the knockout stages of major ICC events.  

If one looks at the broader picture, Shastri's return makes sense. In Tests and T20Is since 2017, India a win-loss ratio of 1.428 but it is in ODIs where India has been really impressive, winning 42 out of 58 games. India's overseas performance has improved dramatically in this time, winning series everywhere except England.  Shastri was at the helm when India won a Test series in Australia for the first time. All these achievements cannot be discounted in any way. However, what has gone against Shastri is India's performance in major global events.

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2015,2016 and now 2019. The common link to the two World Cups and the World T20 held in India was the semi-final loss and the manner of their losses. In 2015, India were undone by an Australian team who were dominant at home while in 2016, they faced the fury of a determined West Indies side looking to make an impact. In 2019, India's arrogance of taking New Zealand lightly, so much so that many experts wished India all the best for the 'next two games' hurt them big time. 

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Fans are not happy about Shastri's appointment due to the failures in ICC events. However, Shastri's appointment is a mixed one primarily because in terms of overall numbers, it is very good. 

It is interesting to note Kapil Dev's quote when asked about the repeated failure of the side in major events. "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," Kapil said. 

Shastri is familiar with the system and is aware of the problems of the players. In all of these numbers, there has just been three bad days in which India has suffered during Shastri's tenure. Looking at all of these, it seems grossly unfair to sack Shastri at a time when two back-to-back World T20s are on the horizon in 2020 and 2021. 

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed by the author in this article are personal. News Nation does not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the organisation or its members.

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HIGHLIGHTS

• India lost in semi-final of 2015, 2016, 2019 ICC events.
• Ravi Shastri was the Indian team director from 2015 to 2016.
• Shastri got an extension after the 2019 World Cup for West Indies series.