Ravishankar Jayadritha Shashtri is an Indian cricketer, a commentator, and a coach. He is currently serving as a Head Coach of India’s cricket Team & is known for his trademark shot know as the “chapati shot”. The Indian cricket team accomplished some great successes throughout the years under coach Ravi Shastri and captain Virat Kohli, the result of which was the Test series win in Australia in 2018/19. Today, we’ll study the life story of Coach Ravi Shastri including his early life, awards, and more.
RAVI SHASTRI – STATISTICS
- Full Name: Ravishankar Jayadritha Shashtri
- Nationality: Indian
- Place of Birth: Mangalore, Karnataka, India
- Date of Birth: 27th May 1962
- Profession: Former Indian Cricketer, Commentator, Cricket coach
- Mentor/ coach: B.D Desai, V.S. Marshall Patil, Hemu Adhikari
- Educational Qualifications: Commerce degree at the college level
- Parents: M.Jayadratha Shashtri, Lakshmi Shashtri
RAVI SHASTRI - Early Life
Ravi Shashtri was born to a middle-class family in Mangalore, Karnataka, on 27th May 1962 but was bought up in Mumbai. His father’s name is M. Jayadratha Shashtri, and her mother’s name is Lakshmi Shashtri.
He was married to Ritu Singh, a classical dancer, in the year 1990 and got divorced in the year 2012. They have a daughter named Aleka Shashtri.
Ravi Shastri Biography - Education
Ravi Shashtri was born on 27th May 1962 to M. Jayadratha Shashtri and Lakshmi Shashtri in Mangalore, Karnataka, India. He did his schooling at a school in Matunga, Mumbai, named Don Bosco High School. After that, he graduated in Commerce from Ramniranjan Anandilal Poddar College of Commerce and Economics in Matunga, Mumbai.
He was passionate about cricket since childhood and also played in inter-school Giles Shield for his school team. He was also a captain of his school team. He participated in several tournaments in his college days and also won the Ranji Trophy.
Ravi Shastri- Domestic Career
- He was one of the youngest cricketers to play for Bombay back then at the age of 17. In his college days, he was selected to represent the Bombay team and won the Ranji Trophy.
- In 1980-81 an under 19 team was scheduled to tour to Pakistan, where he was captained one of the teams in the trial game. He was also asked to lead the team, but the tour was cancelled.
- One of his noteworthy achievements were in the two Ranji seasons where the bowling figures were 6-61
- He lost the last season of Ranji in 1979-80, which he took against Delhi
- In Kanpur, while playing against Uttar Pradesh, Shastri was called in New Zealand to stand in for the injured spinner Dilip Doshi. His seven wickets in the third test made him won the Man of the match, while in the series, 15 wickets were the highest
- Ranji’s final match of 1984/85 turned out to be one of the great matches in India’s domestic history of cricket. He scored 20th while batting at no.5 and the last Ranji trophy took Bombay to 333.
- In September 1994, he retired from the first-class cricket
Ravi Shastri Biography – International Career
- World Championship of Cricket 1985
- THE World Championship of Cricket in Australia was the first overseas match that was shown live in India. In the last three matches, Shashtri finished about with the fifties
- He was chosen as the Man of the Series in “The champion of Champions” tournament. He was rewarded with an Audi 100 car with the order of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
- Vice Captaincy 1985
- Shashtri served his first captaincy in the year 1935.
- He continued his vice-captaincy to Kapil Dev in 1985-86
- He played a major role in the tied test against Australia, where he scored 62 and 44*.
- He also presented a coaching series named “That’s Cricket” in the national television channel named “Doordarshan.”
Ravi Shastri Biography - Coaching Career
He was appointed as the Head for the national side by CAC (Cricket Advisory Committee) coach in July 2017 which comprised Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and VVS Lakshman.
He was paid over Rs. 8 crore per year. On 13th June, his contract was extended to 45 days by the BCCI.
He was again appointed as the head coach of the senior men’s team on 16th August 2019. His contract extended up to the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup in India
Ravi Shastri - Awards and Achievements
Ravi Shashtri achieved many records during his international and domestic career. He won several awards during his cricket career, such as “The Man of the Match” and “The Man of the series”.
- 1984- Arjuna Award for cricket
- 2017- CNN- IBN Indian of the Year Special Achievement
- 2004- ITA Award for the Best Anchor Commentator
- He has a record for hitting six sixes
- H has a bowling record of 9-101.
- Youngest person to represent Mumbai at Ranji
Ravi Shastri Biography – Movies
- Azhar : Azhar, a Bollywood film, was released in 2016, where Gautam Gulati portrayed the character in the film. It was directed by Tony D’ Souza.
- 83, The Film : An Indian film 83 is released in the year 2021 based on the win of India’s World Cup. Dhairya Karwa portrays Shastri’s role as Shastri’s character.
Ravi Shastri Biography – Controversies
- Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar When Ravi Shashtri lost the test series, he ended up making a bold statement saying that the current Indian team is the best tour away in the last 15-20 years. Replying to this, Sunil Gavaskar said that India won more matches in the 1980s
- Ravi Shastri and Sourav Ganguly Ravi Shashtri and Sourav Ganguly never got along with each other. In 2016 when Anil Kumble became the new coach, Sourav Ganguly was part of the Committee and was a part of the selection, but on the other hand, Shashtri called the selection disrespectful, which created a controversy between them.
- THE MOVIE AZHAR In the film Azhar, Ravi Shashtri’s role was portrayed highly negative and was depicted as a womanizer. He denounced the film’s makers and further said that he has no intention to view this film.
Ravi Shastri – Head Coach of the Indian Cricket Team
So, this was all about Indian Coach Ravi Shastri. He proved that success never comes easily and cements the fact that hard work is the only key to success. He had ups and downs in his career, but his passion for cricket never made him give up. Currently, his coaching tenure has been extended by ICC Board till the 2021 T20 World Cup.
