Ravi Shastri

There's cricket, and there's things around cricket. Ravi Shastri has done everything in either. It is often easy to forget that the faces and voices omnipresent on television screens as a part of the media had celebrated cricketing careers before getting there. Shastri is one such prime example.

One of the many Bombay-products of the 80s in the Indian side, he started off as a prodigy from the maidans. A Harris-Shield winning captain in the final year of school, he was spotted by the scouts, fast-tracked through the ranks and at the age of 17, found himself in the Bombay Ranji Trophy squad, the then youngest to do so. A year later, an India cap duly followed.

He was the generation's pin-up boy - flamboyant, loud, brash. His cricket though was for large parts the perfect contrast - orthodox, defensive. Often promoted to bat up the order when the regular openers would 'get injured' as soon as India went overseas, Shastri built a style of ultra-defensive batting around himself - something that his career risks getting defined by. But it got him runs, big runs, against big sides. An average of 77.75 against the mighty Aussies of that decade says enough.

He came into the side predominantly as a left-arm spinner, starting off at number ten, when he made his Test debut in 1981 against New Zealand at Basin Reserve. Promotions surely were in order, moving up the ladder and in eighteen months found himself opening the batting, batting in every single position by the end of his career.

Out of his eleven Test centuries, seven of them came outside home, on tough tours of Pakistan, England and the West Indies. He was also a perpetual vice-captain, first to Gavaskar, then to Kapil Dev, followed by Vengsarkar, Srikkanth and Azharuddin. In the one Test he led India at Madras, he took them to victory, pocketing an interesting piece of trivia.

The glory moments

The World Championship of Cricket in 1985 marked a new chapter in India's cricketing journey. Not only was it one of those rare televised tournaments in India, it also marked the start of one-day cricket as we know it today - with coloured clothes and under floodlights. India were also in with a mission to prove that their 1983 World Cup win was no fluke. Ravi Shastri maintained his top form throughout, both with ball and as an opener and helped India win each of their matches en route the trophy. The Audi, a Man of the Series prize was his.

Another defining moment came in the domestic circuit, against poor Tilak Raj of Baroda. In one of those instances of breaking out of his perceived defensive mould, Shastri launched an offence that culminated in six sixes in an over - a record achieved by only three others in the world till date.

Commentary days

If one skims through any of India's recent cricketing footage, Shastri's booming voice would stand out. With a bunch of one-liners, repeated with regularity, he's carved out a niche for himself behind the mic as he calls out the game. He took to commentary soon after retirement, and found his rise coincide with India's economy getting globalized. With new players stepping into the broadcasting scene, his command over English and the ability to articulate, made him a much sought after entity in the box and in the analyst's chair.

Take India's big moments, the 2011 World Cup winning hit, Sreesanth's catch in the 2007 World T20, Yuvraj Singh's six sixes, it's his voice that'll blare through the screens.

Coaching voyage

A crisis in Indian cricket often has Shastri as its supposed cure. He was made manager of the national side after the drubbing in the 2007 World Cup. Although only for a series, it marked a new shift in guard after the troublesome Greg Chappell era. Similarly after a string of dismal overseas tours, he was made the 'Team Director' in 2014, a role which continued even post Duncan Fletcher's exit till early 2016.

His interview from Bangkok for the Head Coach and his subsequent tiff with Sourav Ganguly made headlines, but after Anil Kumble's unceremonious exit after the 2017 Champions Trophy, he was back in the chair. Together with skipper Virat Kohli, he's formed an aggressive, bordering on arrogant, combo, but it's one that's delivering the right results for the side. It's during his tenure that India's become this powerhouse of fast bowling, a key reason for them becoming the first Indian side in history to register a Test series win in Australia in 2018-19.

Despite not quite performing to full potential in the 2019 World Cup, a campaign that saw some debatable batting strategies as favourites India bowed out to underdogs New Zealand, Shastri received staunch support for an extension in his coaching term from his skipper Kohli. He was duly awarded one, now lasting until the 2021 T20 World Cup.

Written by - Vineet Anantharaman