Ravichandran Ashwin was India’s leading off-spinner. He spoke out about his struggles with injury and fitness during his time in India with Team India in 2018. Ashwin spoke out about India’s recent tour to Australia, during which he had to miss three Tests because of athletic pubalgia’. This was a major impact on his position in Team India.
The off-spinner made reference to Ravi Shastri, the former head coach,’s comments following a victorious series. Shastri called Kuldeep Yadav India’s no.1 overseas player, and said that he was devastated by the statement.
Saba Karim, a former wicketkeeper for Team India, was also the BCCI’s General Manager for Cricket Operations. She spoke in detail about Ashwin’s statement and stressed that Rahul Dravid’s role as ahead coach is very important in such situations.
It is hard to create the right atmosphere, which is crucial to achieve international success. Rahul Dravid’s contribution is also crucial. Rahul’s biggest challenge is to get players to move past past controversies and create an environment that’s positive, Saba Karim stated in the “Khelneeti” podcast.
“How you do it? He can decide. Either you introduce new rules or you make some changes to the system.
You don’t want your captain to feel under immense pressure from his players. This is why I believe the head coach’s role is so important. Transparency between all parties is essential for you to perform at your best.
Saba also spoke out about the similar situation in India’s women’s national team. She said that they had introduced several rule changes to control players’ interactions with media.
I didn’t have the Indian men’s squad under me when I was there. I used to manage the India women’s team and India U-19s. We noticed that the women’s team players were not speaking to the media by their own accord. We created a number of rules for their interaction with media. For example, you need to get permission from the BCCI head coach before speaking to media. Saba also said that interviewers and media managers should verify that they are allowed to speak to media.
Slowly, the players realized that they were responsible and a brand ambassador of India. They need to be more responsible. We didn’t see any problems with the women’s national team.