Outgoing India head coach Ravi Shastri claims that he's leaving a great team for his successor Rahul Dravid. Shastri will step down after India's final group match in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 against Namibia on Monday. India have failed to make the knock-outs of an ICC tournament for the first time in 12 years.
Before their Super 12 match against Namibia in Dubai, Shastri said that "in Rahul Dravid, they've [India] got a guy who has inherited a great team and I think with his experience, he can only raise the bar in time to come. There are still players here who will play for another 3-4 years which is very important. It is not a team in transition and that'll make the biggest difference."
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The BCCI has already named former India captain and batting great Rahul Dravid as Shastri's successor. The upcoming home series against New Zealand will be Dravid's first assignment in the new role.
There will be a change in the T20 captaincy also as Virat Kohli will step down after the Namibia match. Kohli, at the toss, hinted that Rohit Sharma is ready to take charge.
Shastri was also effusive in his praise for Kohli. The duo has led India to some memorable wins during their partnership of nearly seven years.
"Virat is still there, he has done a fantastic job as the leader of the side, he's been the biggest ambassador for Test cricket over the last five years. Lot of credit goes to him in the way he's thought about how he wants the team to play the game and how the team has rallied around him," the former India all-rounder said.
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Talking about his stint as India head coach, the 59-year-old added that "across all formats there are plenty" of memorable wins. "But winning in red-ball cricket across the globe -- West Indies, Sri Lanka, Australia and in England, we are leading the series. It could be the longest lead in the history of cricket because the next Test is next year."
"To go across and beat all these sides every team in white-ball cricket -- T20 or 50 over -- we have beaten sides in their den which was my endeavour and team's endeavour. We were always labelled as big bullies at home, but when you had to travel outside you didn't have the goods. But this team has shown they have more and plenty of that."
