Indian team will miss Ravi Shastri: Rohit Sharma

Although the appointment of Anil Kumble came as a breath of fresh air, Rohit Sharma has stated that the impact of Ravi Shastri was something the Indian team will certainly miss. Shastri was roped in as the Team Director of the Indian team following India’s 3-1 defeat at the hands of England in 2014. Since then, Shastri worked wonders as the Indian team began to raise its game with strong performances.

Sharma added that the 53-year old made a decent transformation of a team that was in a shambolic state. He also added that Shastri was a big influence on the team.

“He (Shastri) took up the responsibility when we were in (a) shambles,” Sharma said. Kumble’s “thinking about the game is so different from the rest… It just amazes you… the kind of stuff he talks about and what he brings to the table is absolutely brilliant”, Sharma added.

Describing Shastri as “a big influence on Indian cricket for the past 18 months”, Sharma said, “As soon as he came, he created a positive atmosphere around us.”

Speaking about Anil Kumble, Sharma enumerated the time when he shared the dressing room with the 45-year old in 2008.

“I was fortunate enough to play with him during the last months before he retired. I remember in 2008, I was part of the Test squad to Sri Lanka and he (Kumble) was the captain. And he always had this attitude of never giving up, which as a young player is so inspiring. He is someone who is very inspiring with the way he’s played his cricket… he’s trying to inspire people to try and take up the challenge which is lying in front of you and react to those challenges. He will always be there for you as a mentor and coach,” said Sharma.

“You have to keep fighting no matter what. If the game is slipping away from your hands, don’t give up till the last ball is bowled. That’s how he played his cricket. You will get the feeling that he was someone who wouldn’t let go too easily. That’s the kind of message that he wanted to send across. That’s the kind of message we also want as young players. He’s very inspiring,” he said.

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“As a group, as Team India, we decided that we wanted to dominate this series and the first way of domination was to use our home advantage, which every team does around the world. We go to Australia, they are not going to give us what we want. They will prepare pitches according to what they want. South Africa, England, anywhere you go,” said Sharma.

“Firstly, I don’t understand why there was so much of an issue made with the conditions. It’s the home conditions, we have to use it. As a group, we all sat down and decided what we were going to do with the pitches… All we wanted was to get results. We knew that the South African team lacked in their spin department and we had a gem of a spin attack. We wanted to use that,” said Sharma.