Former India coach Ravi Shastri said that the players have to take responsibility for India’s extremely poor performance in the recently concluded two-match home Test series against South Africa.
In a podcast teaser released by Prabhat Khabar, Shastri cited the example of the second Test in Guwahati, where India faced a collapse, to justify his point.
“You tell me. What happened in Guwahati – from 100/1, you skip to 130/7 – this team is not that bad either. The team is not that bad; they have enough talent. Therefore, this is where the responsibility must also be taken by the players. You have played spin since childhood.”
There was a lot of criticism about head coach Gautam Gambhir after India were whitewashed twice at home within a span of one year. Some fans even urged the BCCI to remove Gambhir from his position.
However, Shastri believes that while the coach is also responsible for the weak performance the team showed, the players should not be spared either. Shastri also said he is not protecting the current coach and that if he was in that position, he would have taken responsibility for the loss.
“I’m not protecting [him]. 100 per cent (he is responsible too). If this had happened when I was the coach, I would have taken the first responsibility; I, the coach, would have taken it. But I would not have spared the players inside the team meeting.”
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