It has always seemed illogical to me that Ravi Shastri — the first player since Tiger Pataudi to be groomed as captain — led in only one Test match. That was against the West Indies, and India won. From his teens, when he led the Indian Under-19 team to England, he was marked out as a leader. He was a keen student of the game, and had absorbed much of Sunil Gavaskar’s philosophy, with one crucial difference — he was an aggressive captain, looking to win while Gavaskar was more defensive.
We first met in Bangalore, during the Under-19 camp, when Shastri came across as a natural leader, full of plans for the team which included Navjot Sidhu, Gurusharan Singh, Sadanand Vishwanath and Maninder Singh, all future India players. Everybody looked up to him. Shastri told me then his ambition was to play for India “before he turned 22.” There was inevitability about Shastri leading India in at least 50 Tests then.
But increasingly over the decade after his hurried Test debut, when he was flown out to New Zealand as a replacement for Dilip Doshi and virtually went from airport to Test ground, Shastri began falling out with the selectors. His no-nonsense approach might have had something to do with this, or his immense popularity as a youth icon which soon translated into a youth hate-figure as crowds around the country delighted in running him down. The selectors didn’t know how to handle either the popularity or its opposite, and stories were leaked later about supposed transgressions off the field.
Shastri was no saint. But he was something more important — a professional who gave his best for the team. India missed out on a long-term ‘Shastri Era’ because of some weak men in the BCCI.
It must have been difficult for a man in his twenties, but Shastri used the negative reactions to spur him on.
“They inspire me,” he told me back in the 1980s when he moved from being a lower-order batsman who bowled left-arm spin to a front-liner with centuries in Pakistan, England, West Indies and a double century in Australia.
Media jobBy the age of 30, the dream was over. In another couple of years, Shastri had had knee operations, his friend Mark Mascarenhas had offered him a media job, and during the Asia Cup in Colombo he announced his retirement. Even CNN, not the most cricket-friendly of channels, led with the retirement story in its sports section.
Now, after two decades, Shastri has an opportunity as the Indian team’s director to do what he couldn’t as captain — lead a team in transition.
In many ways, he is the ideal man for the job. He has been there, done that, and is willing to rise or sink on the basis of his performance. Players who have found Duncan Fletcher difficult to approach, has in Shastri someone who has taken the same road as themselves with all its highs and lows.
If what India needs is a straight-talking decision-maker with the empathy and understanding of a player not seen as extravagantly naturally-gifted but one who made up with a big heart and a tough approach, then Shastri is the man.
Since his retirement in 1994, Shastri has grown. As a media personality, as a technical committee person, as an IPL governing council member and, strangely enough, a staunch establishment man.
Through it all he has kept in touch with Indian cricket at various levels, on the field of play, in the boardrooms, at the level of choosing national coaches.
“I’ve watched more cricket than I’ve played. So there’s enough in this upper-storey here (pointing to his forehead) that can be used before I forget it,” he said at a recent media session.
That he has played 80 Tests is important; that he has watched so much more, taking in the travelling, the pressures and the need to be professional at all times is significant.
Domestic sceneHe has also said that the Indian domestic first class scene has been generally neglected and he will work towards getting the internationals to play the domestic season.
“You need balance,” he has said, “In the new FTP, India are planning to play two domestic series at home, which I think is the way to go. Why should only Australia or South Africa or England guarantee themselves of a home season? Why can’t India? India has enough muscle to put their foot down and say: at this time of the year, we will play cricket in India. We will not go anywhere else. Take it or leave it.”
Shastri might be emerging as the first football-style supremo in Indian cricket. He has the game for it, even if his detractors remind us what absolute power leads to. With the BCCI marking time before Duncan Fletcher’s contract runs out, Shastri’s stint is confirmed only till the World Cup. Perhaps Indian cricket will have a ‘Shastri Era’ after all, if things go according to plan after that.
