'Give them three back': Ravi Shastri on how Team India dealt with sledging in Australia

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has recently opined on his tactics of survival as a head coach, months after he left the post. While speaking to British publication The Guardian, he shared many things -from his most famous series wins to how to reply back when players sledge.

“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 again said.

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However, India won both their away series in Australia under the coaching of Ravi Shastri – once under the captaincy of Virat Kohli and another under Ajinkya Rahane as well. When he was asked about the England head coach position by the British newspaper, the former India player laughed at it and said that he had done the job for seven years, and has spent a 300-day workload too as well.

Meanwhile, England are looking for a head coach who will take over the reins that faced a 0-4 series whitewash by Pat Cummins-led Australia. They had to face a huge amount of criticism over the structure of County Cricket and they have a change in the management set up, with former England captain and Sky Sports Pundit Rob Key coming in and taking over the responsibility.

Ravi Shastri, in his recent interview, has said that Key needs to discuss issues with former Test captain Joe Root to understand the process.

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“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. But in my 24 years [commentating], I did not miss a beat or a ball of Indian cricket. And he (Key) 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,” Ravi Shastri stated on the matter.

However, he also shared that James Anderson and Stuart Broad should play if they are in form as experience is very important.

“If their form is good, play them. There is no substitute for experience. Test cricket is the purest form of the game and if the guys are fit, hungry, you jolly well look in that direction. Every country makes this mistake, looking too far ahead. It’s too easy to look 100ft away and lose the plot by not backing the guys who have been there and done it,” Ravi Shastri concluded.