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New Delhi: Sunil Gavaskar has hailed the extension of Ravi Shastri’s tenure as Team Director of Indian cricket and called it a step in the right direction. Shastri, who took over as the Team Director during India’s tour to England in 2014, has enjoyed success in the recent past.
Gavaskar took aim at former India coach Duncan Fletcher and said that under him, the team were performing poorly. “There is a lot more positivity in the team now and work ethic has improved. During Duncan Fletcher, it was abysmal,” Gavaskar told reporters in an exclusive chat on Tuesday.
Under Fletcher, India won only two out of 20 Tests away from home. Following their 1-3 series loss in England, there was immense pressure on Fletcher and Shastri stepped into the role of team director. Fletcher’s contract with BCCI expired at the end of the ICC World Cup.
Gavaskar also indirectly criticised MS Dhoni’s approach in overseas tour. During the tour of New Zealand, in which India lost the five-match ODI series 4-0 and the two-Test series 1-0, Dhoni repeatedly stated that the process of building a good side more important than results.
Gavaskar categorically said, “Results are important… there’s been enough of process, process and process. It started from Greg Chappell’s time.”
There has been criticism about India’s aggressive behavior during the Sri Lanka series. Sanjay Manjrekar, in a column, had said, “Bit concerned with the Virat Kohli-Ravi Shastri partnership. The Indians have got into ugly confrontations with even a team like Sri Lanka and it tells me that they don’t see these actions as misdemeanours at all.”
However, Gavaskar cautioned that Shastri was a sensible man who knew how to control the situation. “Shastri may defend Ishant (Sharma) in public, but inside the dressing room he is surely telling him not to overstep the line.”
