Published: May 06, 2020, 06:18 PM (IST)
Edited: May 06, 2020, 06:18 PM (IST)
Lauding former Pakistan cricketer Javed Miandad as a great cricketer and a competitor, India coach Ravi Shastri said the former would go to any extent to get under the skin of the batsman. During a chat on India Today, Shastri recalled how Miandad would love to get the batsman engaged in chatter in order to break his concentration.
“He was a great player, he was a great competitor. He would go to any level to get under your skin and make sure you’re distracted. He had no chance in that final. My eyes were on that car. Even though he might have wanted to distract me, he had no bloody chance.”
Shastri recalled the battle between him and Miandad for the Player of the Series award — an Audi 100 sedan — during the 1985 World Championship of Cricket in Australia.
“He had no chance of getting the Audi. But he had to needle me so that I would get distracted. I mean, when we played against each other, there was a constant chat between Javed and me. There will always be needling,” Ravi Shastri said.
Eventually, Shastri won the Audi and to date cherishes it as a prized possession.
Shastri also recalled saying Kapil Dev and the other cricketers that he would not be sharing the prize money.
“When my turn came I said ‘If I get the car, I am keeping it. The stepnie in the back seat of the car, that I am prepared to share’. For all the years, the fridges, the washing machines and the air conditioners that came, that just disappeared. So why suddenly when a car comes, you’re thinking of sharing. I was pretty straightforward,” Ravi Shastri said.
