‘If anyone thinks we put butter on bread, take a walk’- Ravi Shastri on coaching role

India head coach Ravi Shastri on Saturday gave a detailed explanation of his role in the team. Shastri was given another term as India head coach despite failing to win the World Cup title last year. The former India allrounder, travels alongside an entire coaching staff with him which include batting coach Vikram Rathour, bowling coach Bharat Arun, fielding coach R Sridhar and strength and conditioning coach Nick Webb. So what is Shastri’s role in the team?

Answering the question in an interview to Hindu, the India coach said: “We all have roles. Our job is to fine tune them in every possible way because when you are on the road, there is so much happening, there could be little things in your game that creep in which you don’t realise, which could lead to bigger things. So our job is not to have a stick in our hand and keep rapping them on the knuckles,” he said.

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“You don’t have to go to a player and tell him something for the sake of telling it. If there is a reason why you have to tell him that and if you have a solution, then I step in. I will never go to a player and tell him what you are doing is wrong without having a solution to correct it,” he added.

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The 57-year-old further explained: “How you bat as a unit, how you bowl as a unit, how you play for each other, how you take the game forward if you have a good start, where you give yourself time to take 20 wickets. So all that comes into play. So if anyone thinks that we are there to just put butter on the bread, they can take a walk.”

On being asked if the coaching job gets boring at time, Shastri said: “Not at all. That is one of the coaches’ main job. To be a parrot.”

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He further explained: “You might repeat the same thing day in day out. But that’s my job, reminder. It should be ingrained in you. Muscle memory. You know telling them the things you have to do, keep letting them know how good they are so that they don’t drop guard. I say ‘you guys are setting standards. You will set standards for the next generation which will be very hard to beat’,” he said.

Speaking on India’s inability to win an ICC tournament, he added: “And I would say the only thing missing in the cabinet for these guys is an ICC trophy. That’s destiny. You have to chase it. At the same time, you don’t have to be desperate. You got to stick to your game plans, your work ethics, address the tough situations in a different way,” he said. “We got to sit down and think how can we do this, how can we absorb that pressure so that you give yourself a better chance.”