22 Facts about Ravi Shastri: The versatile cricketing personality

Ravi Shastri is perhaps the most versatile cricketing personality in India. Right from the start of his career, he has shown his capacity to improvise his abilities and flourish. Beginning his promising international career as a tall left-arm spinner, he then developed himself into a sensible opening batsman. Ravi continued to improve his batting and bowling skills turned into a highly reliable all-rounder. Known as the glamour man of Indian cricket during his playing days, Shastri himself admits that he was never a talented one and he owes all his success to his hard work. Post his retirement as a player, he seamlessly transitioned into television commentary and is regarded as the voice of Indian cricket by a majority of cricket fans.

1. Born on:

Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri was born on May 27, 1962, in Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra

2. Education:

He studied at Don Bosco High School, Matunga.

3. Gives cricket a serious thought:

He did not start playing cricket at a very young age. He was 14 years old when he began taking cricket seriously. Ravi played for his school Don Bosco (Matunga). Don Bosco was not really a big name in the school cricket but under Shastri’s captaincy, the school reached the final of the 1976 inter-school Giles Shield and then the very next year, it won the Giles Shield.

4. Sports family:

Ravi Shastri had another notable sportsperson in the family — his cousin sister Mridula Shastri, captained the Indian women team as a swimmer and water polo player.

5. The young debutant:

All the performances for his school and club did not go unnoticed as Shastri quickly made his way into the Mumbai Ranji team. He was chosen to play for the Ranji team at the age of 17. At 17, he was the youngest cricketer to play for Mumbai.

6. India debut:

Shastri made his Test debut for India against New Zealand in the first Test of the tour at Wellington in 1981.

6. A bowler turned versatile batsman:

He started off as an orthodox left-arm spinner and batted at number 10 in his early days in the Indian team. However, he made a remarkable development as a batsman and within 18 months of his Test debut, Shastri moved up to open the innings. By the end of his career, he had batted at every position from one to ten.

7. ‘The Champion of Champions’:

Ravi Shastri’s most memorable series was the ‘Champions of Champions’ series Played in Australia in 1985. India won all games convincingly and he was the star performer. He made 182 runs and took 8 wickets, and was chosen as the man of the series. He won an Audi 100 car for his efforts.

8. The memorable Ranji Trophy finals:

The Ranji trophy final of 1984-85 between domestic powerhouse Mumbai and Delhi turned out to be one of the finest matches in Indian domestic cricket history and Ravi had an important role in it. The left-arm spinner took 8 for 91 and helped Bombay win its 30th title in the 50th anniversary of Ranji Trophy.

9. The record which stood for 20 years:

Ravi Shastri’s figures of 9/101 in the 1981 Irani Trophy remained a tournament record for nearly 20 years.

10. The trademark ‘Chapati’ shot:

Standing at 6ft 3in, he played a limited variety of shots and one of his trademark “chapati shot” which was a flick off the pads.

11. Smashes the fastest double-double ton:

As a batsman, Shastri was batted with a defensive and sensible approach but could switch to aggression in no time. In 1985, in an exhibition of his aggressive nature of batting, he recorded the second fastest double-ton in first-class cricket during the famous knock against Baroda in the Ranji Trophy in 1985. He reached his ton in 80 balls and then scored his next hundred in only 43 deliveries.

12. Equals Sir Gary Sobers’ unique feat:

Shastri also created another unique record en route to his record-breaking double ton after he smashed Baroda left-arm spinner Tilak Raj for six sixes in an over. He was the second batsman to do so in competitive cricket after West Indian great Sir Garry Sobers .

13. Injury forces pre-mature retirement:

Ravi Shastri was forced to retired at the age of 30 due to a recurring knee injury.

14. Career stats:

He played 80 Test matches and scored 3,830 runs and claimed 151 wickets. He also played 150 ODIs and made 3108 runs and took 129 runs

15. Links-ups:

During his playing career, he was famously linked to Bollywood actress Amrita Singh.

16. Personal life:

He married Ritu Singh in 1990. They have a daughter, Aleka, who was born in 2008.

17. Ventures into talent management:

In 2003, Ravi joined hands with Rediffusion DY&R to start a talent management company called Showdiff Worldwide.

18. UNICEF goodwill ambassador:

Ravi Shastri was named national goodwill ambassador for UNICEF. Sachin Tendulkar is the other cricketer who has had the same honour.

19. Represents India as the torchbearer:

In 2008, he was the celebrity torchbearer during the Olympic Torch Relay in Oman.

20. One of the most prominent voices of cricket:

Ravi Shastri is more remembered and known as a wonderful TV commentator among young cricket fans. His voice has been the backdrop for many famous feats India has achieved in the past including the 2007 World T20 and the 2011 Cricket World Cup wins.

21. Indian team director:

In 2014, he became the director of Indian cricket team for a period of 18 months from India’s tour of England till the World T20 2016. He calls it as the ‘Most memorable phase of my life.’

22. Birthday gift denied:

After the end of his tenure, BCCI were looking for someone to take up the vacant Head coach’s role. Shastri was the front-runner for the job but he missed out on the opportunity after BCCI opted for Sanjay Bangar as the intermediary coach for the Zimbabwe tour instead of him just a day before his 54th birthday.