In a country like India, there is always jealousy or a gang of people willing you to fail: Ravi Shastri

Ravi Shastri's tenure as India's head coach ended in November last year.

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Ravi Shastri
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Ravi Shastri. (Photo by Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images

Former India coach Ravi Shastri has opined his views on Rob Key’s role as the Managing Director at England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Shastri feels that in India, there is always a jealousy factor that resides on the side, and said that there is always a group that will want the person in charge, to fail. He feels that Key will learn the whereabouts with time, and will adjust to the situations quickly.

Shastri, who was India’s head coach for a tenure of four years, has been through a lot behind the scenes. Thus he shared some advice for Key and said that he will have to be strong and solid while portraying his new role because there will always be people who will wish for his failure. He quoted his own example to explain the scenario and told about the situation prevailing in the Indian set-up.

“And in a country like India, there is always jealousy or a gang of people willing you to fail. I had a thick skin, thicker than the leather of the Dukes ball you use. A real solid hide. And you need a bloody hide over here. Rob will develop this as he does the job, because every day you are judged. And I am glad he has a lot of captaincy experience from his time at Kent, because communication with the players is absolutely paramount,” Shastri told The Guardian.

Rob will have an adjustment period to understand the issues: Shastri

Rob Key has a big task ahead of him, as he needs to appoint a new captain for the men’s Test team, and a new coach as well. While it is being said that Key is keen to split the coach’s duties between two different people to focus on the red-ball format and the white-ball format separately, he will have an added burden.

England’s Joe Root stepped down as the captain of the Test side, and all-rounder Ben Stokes is said to be the next best contender on the list. Shastri feels that Key will have a bundle of responsibilities ahead of him, and suggests that he will have to keep his thoughts firm because there will be people to judge him and his decisions.

“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 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. You should be able to leapfrog over all those early issues and get into the nitty gritty straight away,” Shastri added.

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