How Virat Kohli, Ravi Shastri let Virender Sehwag down in race for Team India coach

Former India opener Virender Sehwag has revealed that he was not keen on applying for the post of Indian cricket team head coach, but threw his hat upon requests from Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) members.

The 38-year-old also added that he went ahead with his candidature after consulting with Indian captain Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri, who had told Sehwag that he would not be in the fray.

Sehwag's application for the post of head coach in place of Anil Kumble, who resigned after a widely-reported rift with skipper Kohli, came as a surprise to many. It emerged that the swashbuckling opener was requested by BCCI secretary Amitabh Choudhury to consider applying for the high-profile job.

The Nawab of Najafgarh was considered the frontrunner initially as Shastri joined the race only after the BCCI extended the deadline for sending applications. The former India captain, who had also worked with Kohli as the Team Director, eventually pipped the likes of Sehwag, Tom Moody and Lalchand Rajput to join the Indian dressing room once again.

"I thought since they [BCCI top-brass] are requesting me, I should help them. I never thought of applying on my own nor I will ever apply in future. I also had a word with Virat Kohli, he asked me to go for it. It was only then that I applied. If you ask for my opinion, I would say that I was never interested," Sehwag told India TV.

How Shastri influenced Sehwag's decision

Sehwag recalled Shastri telling him that he was not willing to repeat the mistake he had committed in 2016. Notably, Kumble beat the former World Cup-winning all-rounder in the race for the post last year at the end of a controversy-ridden interview process.

"When I was in England during the Champions Trophy [2017], I had asked Ravi Shastri that why he hasn't applied for the post? Shastri then told me that he will not repeat the mistake which he had already made once," Sehwag said.

"If Ravi Shastri had applied earlier, then I don't think there would have been any chance of me applying for the post. I would have never applied."

Nonetheless, Shastri has started his tenure as full-time coach on a high by leading Kohli's men to historic wins in Sri Lanka. Under the 55-year-old, the Indian team demolished hosts Sri Lanka 3-0 in Tests, before taking the ODI and T20I series 5-0 and 1-0, respectively last month.

Shastri's Team India though will face a stiffer test at home during the upcoming five-match ODI series against Australia, starting September 17 in Chennai.