The feud between Saurav Ganguly and Ravi Shastri is turning uglier by day with the two former captains of the Indian national cricket team lashing out at each other. Reacting to Ravi Shastri’s comments latest comments on Ganguly’s absence from a crucial meeting, Ganguly on Wednesday retaliated saying Shastri is living “in a fool’s paradise” if he held him responsible for not getting appointed as the Indian team’s coach. Ganguly, who was a member of the BCCI advisory committee to appoint a new coach, has also retorted back questioning Shashtri’s “seriousness” during his interview which he gave “holidaying in Bangkok”. “He should have shown a bit more maturity, especially for someone who has been in such committees for more than 10 years”, Ganguly said.
Shastri had been serving as the Indian team’s director for 18 months, but he was eventually overlooked for the position of the Indian coach as the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) in India’s cricket advisory committee decided in favour of former Indian captain Anil Kumble.
Subsequent to his unsuccessful bid Shastri trained his guns at Ganguly. In an interview, he said: “Nothing surprises me in Indian cricket anymore. A member of the committee (Ganguly) wasn’t present and that was disrespectful to the selection process.”
Not stopping there, according to the report, he went on to give some advise to Ganguly. “Next time, be present in a meeting, especially when it is as important as this one,” Shastri said.
Anil Kumble, who was eventually appointed as the coach, has distanced himself from the controversy. When asked about the rift, Kumble said that it’s not about the coach but it’s about the players.
As expected there has been a commotion in the team dressing room also. Batsman Rohit Sharma spoke highly of former Team Director Ravi Shastri. “He (Shastri) took up the responsibility when we were in shambles. As soon as he came, he created a positive atmosphere around us”, Sharma said. He spoke very highly of the new coach Anil Kumble and the time that he spent with the former India captain during his playing days for India.
IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla has said that both Sourav Ganguly and Ravi Shastri should adopt restrain and that BCCI’s decision of the appointment of the Indian national team Head Coach should be respected.
The spat has visibly divided the cricketing fraternity. Sanjay Manjrekar said in a tweet that he believed Kumble was the better choice. Bishan Singh Bedi backed Shastri in his criticism of Ganguly’s absence. Gautam Gambhir stated that Kumble was the obvious choice for the post and that Shastri’s comments “only show his desperation.”
