New Delhi, Nov 19: Indian skipper Virat Kohli rubbished reports of head coach Ravi Shastri being a ‘yes-man’ who merely agreed to every opinion expressed by the player during a media briefing before leaving for the Australia tour.
“About saying ‘yes’ all the time, that is the most bizarre thing I have heard,” said Kohli.
“I don’t think there’s anyone who has said no to me more than him in Indian cricket. Honestly, because he’s one guy I can speak to and get an honest opinion and he’ll tell me something that if it doesn’t need to be done, it doesn’t need to be done. I’ve made more changes to my game listening to him than anyone else in the past,” he added.
Kohli also wholly backed Shastri when quizzed about the impact of the head coach on the performances of the side and development of the players.
“The contribution he has brought to the table even since we started building this team is making people believe that they belong to this level,” said Kohli.
“I can vouch for it because at a time when we all went through a really difficult time in England in 2014…for me to be able to come out of that shell [and] a lot of other players, like Shikhar [Dhawan] in the 2015 World Cup, he can vouch for that as well…you know to get the best out of players, I think he’s been the most important factor.”
“Man management is the most important thing at the level at which we play. I think a lot of people think that we don’t understand what needs to be done and someone needs to literally tell you where the bat needs to come from, where the head has to be. I think we’ve learnt those things enough, it’s the man management which Ravi bhai has done brilliantly for the time that he’s been with the team,” he added.
“These are very personal things that happen within the team environment and things that conveniently need to be put out there are put out there, and we’re not going to take a banner and say, ‘no, this is what happens in the Indian team’. As long as our heart is clear and our intent is right, we just want to keep moving forward,” the skipper concluded.
Former coach Anil Kumble had reportedly resigned after the ex-cricketer failed to ‘see eye to eye’ with Kohli on several issues. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had further informed Kumble that the “the captain had reservations with his style and about him continuing as head coach”.
India’s tour of Australia will commence on November 21 with the first T20 International between the two sides all set to take place at “The Gabba”.
