'Virat Kohli is best player I've coached': Ravi Shastri
What's the story
Former Indian cricket team coach Ravi Shastri has named batting legend Virat Kohli as the best player he has ever coached. The former all-rounder praised Kohli's ability to "dominate, be the face, play hard but play fair." In a video on Sky Sports's YouTube channel, Shastri spoke highly of his time with Kohli from 2017-2021 and some of the "unreal" innings he played in Australia, South Africa and England.
Leadership praise
Kohli did a magnificent job under Shastri
Shastri also praised Kohli's leadership skills, saying he was the player he identified as the "leader" of the side after MS Dhoni retired. He said, "Once I took over the job, and once Dhoni had finished, he did a magnificent job." The former coach highlighted Kohli's primary skills as a batsman and his desire to win and take the game forward.
Coaching legacy
Shastri's coaching journey with Team India
Shastri's stint as India's head coach was filled with memorable moments, even if it didn't deliver an ICC trophy. Under his guidance, India reclaimed the No. 1 spot in Test rankings after a long gap, thanks to their dominant home record. He also led a young Indian team to two historic series wins in Australia - a first for Indian cricket. Kohli's fearless performances were instrumental in these victories.
Performance highlights
Kohli's dominance during Shastri's tenure as coach
Kohli took over Test captaincy from Dhoni during the 2014 series and made an immediate impact with twin centuries on his debut as full-time Test captain. From 2016-19, he dominated red-ball cricket, scoring 4,208 runs at an astonishing average of 66.79 with 16 hundreds. Reflecting on this transition, Shastri said working with Kohli was great as he identified him as a potential leader who could dominate bowling units while playing hard and wanting to win.
Coaching regrets
We were a little unlucky with ICC trophies, says Shastri
Shastri admitted that he has "no regrets whatsoever" as head coach but felt the team was "a little unlucky." He said, "We should have won an ICC trophy. At that time, we had the team to do it, but we still played some great cricket." Under Kohli and Shastri's leadership, India reached the semi-finals of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup and finished runners-up in the ICC World Test Championship 2019-21.
Shastri
India's overall record under Shastri across formats
Shastri's tenure as the Indian cricket team's head coach came to an end in November 2021. As per Cricbuzz, India played 43 Tests under head coach Shastri. They won 25 matches, and lost 13 with a win percentage of 58.10. In ODIs, India won 51 out of the 76 matches, besides losing 22 (win percentage 67.1%). In T20Is, India played 65 matches, winning 45 and losing 18 with a win percentage of 69.20.