In the aftermath of his departure as the head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team, Ravi Shastri hinted at a potential future role in coaching an IPL team, expressing a desire for a break from the rigorous schedule. Ravi Shastri’s comments spark speculation about his potential entry into the IPL coaching arena.
Ravi Shastri played for India in both Tests and ODIs, contributing with both bat and ball. A highlight was his role in India’s 1983 World Cup victory. As a cricketer (1981-1992), he was a well-rounded all-rounder. Post-retirement, Shastri became a popular commentator, known for his energetic voice and insightful analysis. Specially the last winning six that came from MS Dhoni’s bat along with Shastri’s words.
Ravi Shastri’s coaching tenure with the Indian cricket team (2017-2021) was a period of both dominance and challenges. Partnering with Virat Kohli’s captaincy, Shastri instilled an aggressive approach, prioritizing winning away matches and achieving the number one ranking across formats. India became invincible at home, with a historic Test series win in Australia and a long winning streak against strong teams. They also secured landmark victories like the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia twice and reached the finals of major ICC tournaments.
What Ravi Shastri Said
Ravi Shastri, a member of the 1983 World Cup-winning team and former head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team, remains open to the possibility of coaching an Indian Premier League (IPL) team. While Shastri is motivated by the opportunity to mentor youngsters rather than financial gain, he emphasized that he’s not rushing into any decisions.
Despite his enthusiasm for working with Indian talents, Ravi Shastri highlighted the importance of taking a break from the dressing room, which influenced his decision to step down from the national team’s top coaching position.
On Ravichandran Ashwin’s YouTube chat show Shastri said:
“Not really. Not after doing India for 7 years. You never know what can come up in the future and how involved you are going to get,”
“You know, there is no doubting the experience you have and what you can bring to the table, but after 7 years with the Indian team, especially those times — you were there — the toughest time that game has seen since the World War II — during Covid, quarantine and the bubbles, you just wanted ta break from the dugout, the dressing room and everything. The broadcasting and the mic gave me the freedom to express myself again. And have some fun,”
During his tenure as Team India head coach from 2017 to 2021, Shastri highlighted mentoring youngsters as one of the significant aspects of his role. He added,
“You don’t rule that out. Once you have been involved with the game and played the game and you wanted to contribute to the youth, then that will always linger in your mind. It’s not just the money part of it, but also the contributing factor. How you can get into the heads of the young kids and pass on the knowledge you have before you forget it yourself?,”
“If I ever go there, it will be precisely for that reason. Not to see the superstars carrying on the way they are, but to cultivate, identify and groom talent, and take them through the roof,” he further added.
He concluded by saying,
“I will enjoy it because the spread is so much these days, they have complexes, they have language barriers and challenges culturally. And then get them together to play fearless cricket and ruthless cricket is my cup of tea. So never discount that, it would always be the case when you are handling youngsters,”