Cricket fraternity pours wishes as 'flamboyant' Ravi Shastri turns 59

Former India all-rounder and head coach Ravi Shastri turned 59 today.

By Padmaja Srivatsan

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Ravi Shastri
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Ravi Shastri. (Photo by Pankaj Nangia/India Today Group/Getty Images)

India head coach Ravi Shastri always makes headlines for various reasons. The former all-rounder’s witty answers to press, his pep talk to youngsters, and his flamboyance have always caught the fans’ attention and critics alike.

During India’s famous series victory Down Under earlier in 2021, Shastri was lauded by former cricketers and experts for boosting the morale of the team sans Virat Kohli. He was more of a father figure to youngsters such as Rishabh Pant, Mohammad Siraj, and Shardul Thakur and brought the best out of players. His dynamic coaching style and his tuning with Indian skipper Kohli has brought a ruthless and winning attitude in the Indian team.

Shastri is known to always be a fighter right since his playing days. He was always gritty and determined to not throw his wicket away when set. The former all-rounder’s high point as a player came during India’s historic victory in the 1985 Benson and Hedges World Championship. His all-round brilliance with both bat and ball helped India come on top. Shastri scored 182 runs and picked eight wickets and was fittingly named the player of the series.

Flamboyant Ravi Shastri’s various roles

He finished his career with 6,938 runs and 280 wickets across both formats and was widely remembered for his famous ‘Chapathi’ shot. After calling it quits, the 59-year-old turned his attention to commentary and became a cricket expert. During his glorious commentary stint, Shastri was the voice behind India’s memorable ICC T20 World Cup win in 2007, ICC 50 over World Cup in 2011, and was also the voice behind Yuvraj Singh’s six sixes feat against England in the 2007 T20 World Cup.

Shastri also did a TV show with Wasim Akram and the show ‘ShazWaz’ become an instant hit among fans. He shifted his focus to coaching and was first appointed the head coach in 2015 and did a decent job at it before losing the job to Anil Kumble.

As fate would have it, Shastri returned as the head coach in 2017 and since then, has been with the team during which India reached the semi-final of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 and won back-to-back Test series Down Under. As he celebrates his 59th birthday the Indian team would look to give him a perfect birthday present by winning the inaugural ICC World Test Championship final (WTC). Here’s how Twitter wished him on his big day.

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