Published: Apr 27, 2022, 12:44 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 27, 2022, 12:44 PM (IST)
New Delhi: Former India head coach Ravi Shastri shared some valuable pointers for newly appointed England men’s team managing director Rob Key, who might have his task cut after England’s Ashes debacle followed by a series loss against West Indies in the Caribbean Islands. Shastri said that Key finds himself in a similar situation to his when he was appointed as the head coach and suggested him to be bullish and brutish in his approach.
“Rob may have more work with the domestic game but, when it comes to the national team, it is very similar,” Shastri told The Guardian. “The most important thing is getting among the players and setting a tone from the outset: what you believe in, what you think of them and changing the mindset to compete and win. You have to be bullish and brutish in wanting to achieve that. For us, and now England, it was about setting the challenge of winning abroad, big time,” Shastri told The Guardian in an interview.
“You leave everything you said as a commentator behind. Park it. When I was the director of the (India) team (2014-2016), it was about diagnosing problems: I was asked to hire and fire, whoever I wanted I could get in and whoever I didn’t could be shown the door. And it was also outlining how we want to play: to be aggressive and ruthless, to up the fitness levels, to get a group of fast bowlers to take 20 wickets overseas,” he said.
“Tell your players to embrace the culture of a country, mix with its people, understand who they are, then give them everything, so they know a force is coming for them. Give it right back and get some runs. Stand up, have the stomach for a fight and, when you get the ball, give it right back, no compromise. It’s all about results but the goodwill if you succeed? Well, you don’t get that as a player or a commentator,” the former India coach further added.
