India Tour of England: The rumours are rife about Rahul Dravid taking over from Ravi Shastri as India’s head coach as his tenure ends after the ICC T20 World Cup. However, former captain Kapil Dev has batted for Shastri, saying he does not need to go out if he continues to do a good job. As it stands, Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI will take a call on his tenure after WC but the results of the five-match Test series against England will also be taken into account.
“I don’t think there is any need to speak about it. Let this Sri Lanka series get over. We’ll get to know the kind of performance our team has dished out. If you’re trying to shape a new coach, there’s nothing wrong with it. Then again, if Ravi Shastri continues to do a good job, there’s no reason to remove him either. Only time will tell. Before that, I think it will put unnecessary pressure on our coaches and players,” Kapil Dev said on the Wah Cricket Show on ABP News.
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India Tour of England: While Virat Kohli & Co have performed admirably on overseas tours and at home, the only blot has been ICC events. Since taking over from Anil Kumble in 2017, under Ravi Shastri, India have failed to win the ICC Champions Trophy, ICC 2019 World Cup and the ICC World Test Championship. India reached the World Cup semifinals while playing the final of the other two events.
However, if India fail to win the ICC T20 World Cup, the BCCI may not renew his contract especially with Sourav Ganguly at the helm. The BCCI president doesn’t seem to have a liking for Shastri. Furthermore, sending Rahul Dravid to Sri Lanka as the head coach also indicates a change in hands could be on the cards, forcing Virat Kohli to keep in line and not repeat the Anil Kumar saga once again.
India Tour of England: Under Ravi Shastri, multiple new faces have made their debuts and shined in the blue jersey. But Kapil Dev is concerned with too much cricket and favours giving youngsters a chance and resting the big guns occasionally.
“India have big bench strength. If players get the opportunity and India can assemble two teams that can claim to win in both England and Sri Lanka, there is nothing better. If the youngsters get the opportunity, there’s nothing wrong with it. But if it is up to the team management to decide whether they should apply such pressure on two teams simultaneously,” Kapil Dev said.
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