Ravi Shastri Breaks Silence On Sourav Ganguly Saga: "There Was Some Motive Behind It"

Ravi Shastri has opened up on the infamous drama from 2016 that involved Sourav Ganguly. Shastri, a former India captain who also served as one of the most successful head coaches in Indian cricket history, held the role of Director of Cricket for the Indian team in 2014. Two years later, the BCCI decided to remove the post and asked Shastri to apply for the position of head coach. In focus was the Board's Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), which included Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, and VVS Laxman. The CAC overlooked Shastri and named Anil Kumble as the head coach of the side.

Controversy erupted after Shastri revealed that Ganguly was absent during his interview for the post of India head coach. He added that he felt disrespected by the incident. Later, Ganguly also responded, saying he was "very saddened" by Shastri's "personal attack."

"In 2014 I took over; I was the director of the side. Came in 2016, they said, no, we don't want any director now. You apply for a head coach position. And there should have been no reason why I should not have carried on on sheer merit. So there was obviously some other reason, some motive behind why you were shafted out. Okay," Shastri told Republic TV.

"That hurt me. You know, that hurt me; if I look back at my career, that hurt me a lot because you had given your heart and soul to getting the team to where it was and you could see the fruits being delivered in a matter of time. And then you had to go and sit out," he added.

Reflecting further on the incident, Shastri said, "Then I went back to commentary, carried on with the game. I said, okay, that was a good experience for a year and a half. It taught me a lot; it got me back into the dressing room. It taught me how the players think. In the modern era, how Gen Z thinks. And, you know, leave it at that. It was a bad knock on the knuckles.

"But anyway, you took it, you moved on, and then you got the opportunity again. And, you know, it's again, like in cricket, when you come back, you come back stronger. And what happened is history."

Later, Shastri served as India's head coach from 2017 to 2021, a tenure of four and a half years.

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