Remember how when India lost the world cup semifinal? Indians felt terribly let down and dismayed and as usual we wanted to know whom to blame. A beer-bellied, jaded looking head coach, Ravi Shastri presented himself as a likely scapegoat and soon cricket fans were baying for his blood – or at least his dismissal. Turns out the BCCI, in its wisdom decided to retain him as head coach of the Indian team and Indian cricket fans were not pleased.
Indian cricket fans were longing for a change and felt it was sorely needed. But it was not to be.
Shastri (narrowly according to the Cricket Advisory Committee or CAC) pipped the other aspirants to the post. He bagged the job for the fourth time because his “familiarity and communication skills gave him the edge.”
Mike Hesson is the former head coach of the New Zealand cricket team. Former Australian player and current CSK coach Tom Moody is the man many were rooting for as coach of the national team. Both have more experience and arguably better track records as coaches felt many
Shastri is known to be close to skipper Virat Kohli. It is widely believed that the choice of Shastri as coach is the result of the BCCI pandering to the whims of the skipper rather than making a considered decision.
Fans may have wanted something else, but they had a sense of inevitability about the return of Shasti, who has been publicly endorsed by captain Virat Kohli.
Many are of the view that the selection process was not fair and that Shastri’s choice was a foregone conclusion for other reasons. This scene from Sacha Baron Cohen’s political satire The Dictator makes a snide reference to the process of selection.
Much has been made of Shastri's personal lack of physical fitness and the tweeple seem to love sharing unflattering photos of the once-skinny Shastri on social media.
Shastri’s critics feel that it is his personal clout and not coaching chops that gets him the job repeatedly. They feel that the other candidates are better qualified; with better track records.
Many believed that there ought to be a new person and a fresh perspective on the job of India's head coach.
---And very obviously disappointed.
Cricket fans are also critical about Shastri’s alleged fondness for a drink or two. Shastri has been repeatedly attacked and caricatured for this.
Pictures of Shastri with booze bottles photoshopped into the image seem always to be doing the rounds on social media.
No! Is the resounding answer from all those feeling disillusioned about the current functioning of the CAC, BCCI and Indian cricket in general.
Many feel that the decision to reappoint Shastri is illogical and arbitrary.
Former captain and head of the CAC Kapil Dev gave a statement saying that the decision was not based on Kohli’s preferences but was taken objectively. Most of Twitter chose not to believe this.
Kapil Dev and Anshuman Gaekwad offered justification for their decision by citing some numbers.
Fans didn’t get what they wanted --- their predictions of the future of Indian cricket are full of doom and gloom currently.
An online poll conducted by ESPN showed that Indian cricket fans were overwhelmingly in support of a new coach being appointed in lieu of Ravi Shastri.
A lot of Indian cricket fans feel that the BCCI functions like a fiefdom favouring a few and that the reappointment of Ravi Shastri as head coach is evidence of this. They feel it suffers from the same nepotism, bureaucracy and opacity that besieges so many of our other institutions.
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