I thought if I can’t get the best out of Rohit Sharma as a batter then I am a failure as a coach: Ravi Shastri

Over the years, Rohit Sharma has emerged as one of India’s best batters across all formats of the game. Despite his initial struggles in red-ball cricket, he has now established himself in the Test arena as well. As a matter of fact, it wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that he is currently one of the best batters in the world.

Ever since he started opening in whites, the 34-year-old has rejuvenated his Test career. It all started during the home series against South Africa in 2019, where the “Hitman” was asked to open the innings in the longest format of the game. Speaking about the same, the former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri spoke about how he aimed at establishing Sharma as an opener.

While speaking exclusively on the Star Sports show Bold & Brave: The Shastri Way, the 59-year-old went on to say that he would have considered himself a failure as a coach if he couldn’t get the best out of the MI skipper. He also spoke about how supremely talented the Mumbai batter was.

Ravi Shastri opens up on the split captaincy in Indian cricket 

“It was very clear in my mind that I wanted to do it. I thought if I can’t get the best out of him as a batsman then I am a failure as a coach because there is too much talent there,” said Ravi Shastri. It is to be noted that the swashbuckling opener has scored the most number of runs for India in 2021 across all formats too.

In the meanwhile, the former Indian all-rounder also spoke about the split captaincy in Indian cricket, with respect to red-ball and white-ball. He felt that it was a blessing in disguise for Virat Kohli, as it wasn’t easy to handle all three formats because of the bubble life. Thus, he supported the division of captaincy across white and red ball formats.

“I think it’s the right way to go. This could be a blessing in disguise for Virat, and for Rohit because I don’t think in this era if the bubble life exists for another year or so, one guy can handle all, that is not easy at all,” he said.