N Srinivasan insisted that I coach Team India, I hope I haven't let him down: Shastri

Cricket Desk: Ravi Shastri’s tenure as Team India’s head coach ended after the Men in Blue crashed out of the T20 World Cup 2021. However, he bowed out on a positive note as Virat Kohli’s men won three matches in a row to end their campaign in the tournament. On Monday, November 8, India defeated Gerhard Erasmus’s Namibia by nine wickets at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Despite the hat-trick of wins, India failed to go beyond the Super 12 as they couldn’t recover from their initial losses at the hands of Pakistan and New Zealand. Shastri, in the meantime, expressed gratitude to the Board of Control for Cricket in India for giving him the opportunity to serve as the national head coach since 2017.

Shastri took over as the coach in 2017 after Anil Kumble resigned following his alleged spat with Kohli. Although India couldn’t win an ICC trophy under Shastri’s tutelage, they shattered a number of records in bilateral series around the world.

I didn’t have the belief that I could do this job, says Ravi Shastri

“It’s been one heck of a journey. it’s my last day in the dressing room, I just spoke to the boys. I’d like to thank the BCCI for giving me this opportunity, believing that I could do the job and I must thank in this also all the committees that were there in picking me as the coach, including Vinod Rai and his team for some time, the COA,” Shastri said in the post-match presser.

Moreover, the 59-year-old Shastri extended thanks to former BCCI chief N Srinivasan for showing adequate faith in him. “But there’s one man I would want to give special mention to. His name is N Srinivasan. He was the man who insisted that I do this job in 2014.

“In fact, I didn’t have the belief that I could do this job and he seemed to have more belief in my abilities than I had, and I hope I haven’t let him down. So, sir, if you’re listening, I got my opportunity and did my work without any agenda,” Shastri added.

Apart from his coaching role with India, Shastri also served as their team director for around two years from 2014.