Ravi Shastri shares his experience as Director of Indian cricket and what England can learn from it

Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri has been a wonderful servant to BCCI and Indian cricket. He had a distinguished playing career with the national team and served the senior team in several capacities, including that of director and team manager, before taking charge as head coach on a number of occasions.

He has opened up on the factors that was responsible in bringing success to the Indian men’s side. Shastri said that, as director of cricket, he held complete control over which players and personnel he wished to keep in the team. He also stressed a lot on improving players’ fitness and bringing in them a tendency of aggression and giving it back to the opposition on the field.

“When I was the director of the team, it was about diagnosing problems: I was asked to hire and fire, whoever I wanted, I could get in and whoever I didn’t could be shown the door. And it was also outlining how we want to play: to be aggressive and ruthless, to up the fitness levels, to get a group of fast bowlers to take 20 wickets overseas.

“And it was about attitude, especially when playing the Aussies. I told the boys if one single ‘f*ck you’ comes your way, give them three back: two in our language and one in theirs,” Shastri told The Guardian.

There are lessons to be taken from Shastri’s tenure as chief of Indian cricket. England, who have been extremely disappointing in recent years, could particularly take a leaf from his book. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) appointed former batter Robert Key to take over as Managing Director of the men’s cricket team on April 17.

He will be replacing the outgoing Ashley Giles and has to play a crucial role in order to revitalize the fortunes of the team, including the appointment of a new Test captain as well as head coach.

Shastri believes that Key needs to understand in detail what the England Test side is lacking and how it can be implemented. He thinks that the former English batter will quickly figure out the necessities and perform his role well.

“Rob will have an adjustment period to understand the issues and will need to speak in detail with Joe Root for his experiences as Test captain. And he will have covered a huge amount too. So, you’re not lagging behind by an inch, you’re abreast of what a team requires but also what other teams are doing.”