Shastris, Kumbles will come and go, fabric of Indian cricket will remain: Ravi Shastri
Mumbai: Former cricketer Ravi Shastri, who has been recently appointed as head coach of the Indian cricket team, on Wednesday insisted that coaches like him and Anil Kumble will come and go and that it is the team who should be credited for their exceedingly well performance in last three years.
The 55-year-old also revealed on how he has matured as a person in the past few weeks, before adding that he would start from where he left the Indian team in 2014.
"I have matured since I last went to Sri Lanka. And I have matured immensely in the last two weeks. I will carry on from where I have left. I don't come in with any baggage. The team has done exceedingly well over the last three years. They are the people who deserve the credit, more than anyone else. People like Shastris and Kumbles will come and go," Shastri told the reporters.
"The fabric of Indian cricket will remain and credit should go to everyone, who has participated in the Indian team over the last three years. If they are number one today, it's because of the effort they have put in over these three year period. And they deserve the credit. People like us will come and go," he added.
Reflecting on Bharat Arun's appointment as India's bowling coach, Shastri pointed out that the former has been coaching for last 15 years and that his track record speaks for himself.
"There is a track record. Fifteen years of life he has been coaching. You look at that track record which is outstanding. Right from junior levels to A team to Indian junior world cup teams. He has been part of. He knows these boys better than I do because he has been in the system for the last 15 years. You look at the last World Cup. India took 77 out of 80 wickets," Shastri said.
"If Bharat Arun's name was someone else, who had played a lot of Test crickiet. You would have put him on the top. So I don't want to elaborate much on what he is good at, what are his strengths. It is there for everyone to see," he added.
Shastri had replaced Anil Kumble as India's head coach after the latter resigned from the post following a successful one-year tenure that ended on a bitter note after fallout with Kohli.
Arun, on the other hand, had previously served in the same capacity during Shastri's tenure as team director from 2014 to 2016.
The 54-year-old had replaced Joe Dawes in 2014 and was there with the Indian team till 2016 when Shastri wasn't appointed coach and spin legend Kumble was handed the head coach's post.
Shastri's first assignment as head coach will start with India's tour of Sri Lanka, where the two sides are slated to play a three-Test series, followed by five ODIs and a T20I beginning July 26.
