After being reappointed as India's head coach, Ravi Shastri has thanked the Kapil Dev-led Cricket Advisory Committee for showing faith in him during the reappointment. He has also said that the main aim of the new management will be to take the consistency of the side to the next level.
Ravi Shastri was among the 5 shortlisted candidates interviewed for the role of Team India head coach by the CAC, which consisted of Kapil Dev, Shanta Rangaswamy and Anshuman Gaekwad. Shastri was chosen above the likes of Tom Moody and Mike Hesson for reappointment as the head coach after Friday's interviews at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) headquarters in Mumbai.
'Thanks for having faith in me'
"I first like to thank the CAC -- Shantha, Kapil and Anshu -- for having the faith in me to let me continue for another 26 months," Ravi Shastri told bcci.tv in an interview on Saturday.
Shastri also said that he came into the Indian side as he believed in the team and believed that as a unit they could leave a legacy and in the upcoming stint, he would continue to do the same.
"It's a privilege and honour to be part of an Indian team setup. The reason why I came in was I had the belief in this team... belief that this team can leave a legacy that very teams have in the past. Not just for the moment they're playing... you know the kind of legacy... going down the line other teams would try and emulate," the head coach added.
This will now be Shastri's fourth stint with the national team, having served briefly as the Cricket Manager (2007 tour of Bangladesh), Team Director (2014-2016) and head coach (2017-2019). Under Shastri, the Indian team has the best win-loss ratio as the figure of 2.6 is quite impressive. Yes, few selection issues have been contentious, but the team has largely been successful under the combination of Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri.
However, as per the new BCCI constitution, the selection panel will now shortlist the candidates as the support staff of the Indian coach. However, as per the scenario, the head coach could be consulted before finalising the three assistant coaches - batting, bowling and fielding.
