“I had no warning. I was commentating at the Oval during India’s 2014 tour of England and came off air to find six or seven missed calls. What’s happened here?. The BCCI said: We want you to take over, starting tomorrow, at any cost," former head coach Ravi Shastri said in an interview while talking about how he switched his career from a commentator to Team India's coach.
"I told them I’d have to speak to my family and commercial partners but they just said they would sort all that out. And like that, I was straight in from the commentary box. You’ll see when I joined the setup, I was still in jeans and loafers. Instantly my job changed,” he further added.
Shastri was at the helm of India's coaching staff between 2014 to 2021, except in 2016, when Anil Kumble was given the charge.
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When asked about Robert Key's appointment as England and Wales Cricket Board’s Managing Director of Cricket, Shastri said, Robert Key will need to grow a "thick skin" akin to the Dukes' ball just like I grew one to counter the "jealous people."
Apart from their similar backgrounds in broadcasting, they also do not have coaching qualifications. Shastri believes that the broader challenges are the same as an outsider who previously had to pass judgment on the players.
"I didn't have coaching badges. Level one? Level two? F*** that. And in a country like India, there is always jealousy or a gang of people willing you to fail. I had a thick skin, thicker than the leather of the Dukes' ball you use. A real solid hide. And you need a hide over here," he added.
Key will take up the position at a time when England is looking for a new Test captain after Joe Root’s decision to stand down.
"Rob may have more work with the domestic game but, when it comes to the national team, it is very similar. The most important thing is getting among the players and setting a tone from the outset: what you believe in, what you think of them, and changing the mindset to compete and win. You have to be bullish and brutish in wanting to achieve that. For us, and now England, it was about setting the challenge of winning abroad, big time. I was very firm when it came to team culture: all the prima donnas and all that s***, that had to go out of the window early," Shastri said.
Talking about India beating Australia in two back-to-back away series Shastri explained, "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 expletive comes your way, give them three back: two in our language and one in theirs."
