Often there is a controversy over who runs the show when two high-profile individuals take the place of the captain and coach in a cricket team. And when that cricket team in India, Virat Kohli, and Ravi Shastri are the captain and coaches, there’s bound to be extra spice to that issue. But in fact, according to head coach Ravi Shastri, there’s no question about who calls the shots in the Indian cricket team.
Terming Indian skipper Virat Kohli the ‘boss,’ head coach Shastri said he’s leading from the front in every aspect of the game, setting the tone for the rest of the team’s players.
“I still believe that the captain is the boss,” Shastri said in an interaction with Nasser Hussain‘s question during an interview with a leading sports website. “The coaching staff’s task is to train the guys to go out and play optimistic, courageous, fearless cricket in the best way possible.
Throwing light on his role, Shastri said he was working more like a boss who was there to take the pressure off the captain.
Shastri Talks About Qualities In Virat Kohli:
“From the front, the captain leads. Sure, we’re there to take off the pressure — he’s not going to every player and talking to them, that’s my job; if you have to pick someone up — so you’re leaving him in the center to do his job.
Shastri also praised Kohli for the progress in fielding and fitness that the team has made.
“The leadership comes from the top when you’re thinking about fitness and it came from Virat,” he said. “He’s no one to mess around. One morning he woke up and said ‘if I want to play this game, I want to be the world’s best player and perform against the best in all conditions,’ and he let his body go through a lot of hell.
If a player like Kohli sets such high expectations, it rubs off on others according to the head coach.
“Not just the exercise, it was the changes that he made in his diet, the way he looked at life. I could see this change going on all the time. It rubbed off on others when he sets those standards, “he added.
