Sourav Ganguly told Ravi Shastri 'boss it's time to go', personal attacks have hurt India: Ex-Pakistan captain
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Former Pakistan skipper Rashid Latif has claimed Sourav Ganguly played a role in Ravi Shastri's exit as head coach. He also explained how personal attacks have been hurting Indian cricket.
Indian cricket has undergone significant changes since the conclusion of the T20 World Cup 2021 last year. While Ravi Shastri was replaced by Rahul Dravid as the new head coach, Virat Kohli is no more leading India in any format of the game. Kohli had stepped down as T20I captain willingly last year before being sacked as the ODI captain.
He decided to quit Test captaincy earlier this month which has further resulted in turmoil in Indian cricket. With the team suffering crushing defeats in both the Test and the ODI series against South Africa recently, questions have been raised on the side's morale and confidence going forward.
Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has slammed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for not dealing with the situation properly. Latif believes BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had a role to play in Shastri's exit as head coach and that BCCI would not have let the former all-rounder continue in his role even if he wanted to after his contract expired.
"All this began happening when Anil Kumble was wrongly removed as coach. Ravi Shastri had taken no coaching courses and yet he directly took entry as the coach. This was a strong group – Kumble had over 600 wickets and Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid were his teammates. This trio is very strong," Latif said in a video on YouTube channel Caught Behind.
Latif claimed Shastri was told by BCCI president Ganguly that there was no way he can get another extension as head coach and that it was time for him to go. Shastri had announced before the T20 World Cup 2021 that he will be leaving the India head coach post after the conclusion of the tournament last year.
However, as per the former Pakistan captain, Ganguly had a role in his exit and such personal attacks have hurt Indian cricket in the last few months.
"By all means, Ganguly told Shastri 'boss, it's time to go' even if Shastri had considered continuing as coach. This whole thing has been building up since before the T20 World Cup, these are personal attacks and it has impacted Indian cricket. What happened with Pakistan in the early 1990s is happening today with Indian cricket," Latif said.
Latif believes KL Rahul isn't the right guy to help Indian cricket recover from the current situation and he feels Rohit Sharma will have to work hard on his fitness to ensure he can manage his workload well and take Indian cricket forward.
"Such off-field tensions hamper the performances of the team and that is exactly what has happened. Who was sitting with Kohli? Siraj, on the left. On his right, there were players who nobody knew. That picture stated it all. KL Rahul cannot handle the team, and it remains to be seen how Rohit Sharma maintains his fitness if he is to be the man to usher Indian cricket into the future," he added.