Ramakrishnan Sridhar has been one of the most prominent names in Indian cricket for a while now, working as the fielding coach of the U19 team back in 2014, and also serving Punjab Kings in that very year. But his big break came in August that year, after the IPL, when he was made the fielding coach of the Indian men’s team, a position he held until the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Having played an integral part in Ravi Shastri’s setup, the former Indian fielding coach revealed that Shastri was a wonderful man manager, and it was a delight to work with him.
He also recalled a famous incident which happened shortly after Shastri stepped down from his position, that Greg Chappell, the former Indian head coach, had called him.
Sridhar revealed that Chappell had asked Shastri,
“How the hell do you bounce back after so many defeats?”
In the last 12 months, India had been bundled out for a paltry 36-run total against Australia in Adelaide, where they turned things around and ended up winning the series in the most dramatic way possible.
Similarly, they registered a fantastic win in Leeds, where they were bundled out for 78 runs, but towards the end of the final day, they snatched a famous win that put them 2-1 ahead of the final Test in Manchester, which unfortunately was postponed. India also managed to reach the World Test Championship final but lost to New Zealand in Southampton.
Talking about Shastri, the 51-year-old had mentioned that he had a great stature. When Sridhar joined in 2014, Shastri was the Team Director, a position he held until the end of the 2015 ICC World Cup.
“Leadership qualities and man-management skills. These are foremost of his (Shastri) qualities that come to mind. He could get things done whether it was from the CoA then or after that BCCI.
He had a great stature and that was required. He was a players’ man and knew what players wanted and helped them remain in that space.
A good leader and outstanding man manager,”
Sridhar mentioned.
