Team India has been lauded for its recent achievements against Australia and New Zealand. Former West Indies skipper Clive Lloyd even hailed the current Indian team as the best of their ilk.
Many critics opine that the reason behind India’s unstaggering success has been the seamless collaboration between head coach Ravi Shastri and skipper Virat Kohli.
However, former England spinner Monty Panesar reckoned that the Indian team’s success belong more to Shastri than to Kohli and the 59-year-old is responsible for India’s unprecedented victories.
“If one analyses the performance of India in the past few months, you can see that it is more of Ravi Shastri’s team than Virat Kohli’s. At least that’s what I feel,” Panesar told India Today.
Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt when asked to opine on Panesar’s views, stated that Kohli was equally responsible for his side’s accomplishments as he is one of the best batsmen in the world and failure of a series or two cannot take away the Delhi-lad’s credibility.
“See, I don’t understand why somebody would need to say this. Virat has scored so many runs, was it possible to get such a good winning ratio without it? Not at all. He was not there for one series, we can consider it as a failure. One or two failed series are normal but you still can’t take away his contribution. Similarly, a coach’s positive influence ensures that the team is with him,” Butt said on his YouTube channel.
The Lahore-born further asserted that both the head coach and skipper were equally happy to work with each other, and there was no reason to label one as the precursor to the team’s growth. Butt even took a jibe at Panesar’s outlook, stating that it had no ‘context’ or ‘logic.’
“They both [Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli] didn’t say anything and are happy to work together… I believe both are equally valuable. In fact, every member is valuable. And when they are all happily working together as a team, why would you say that it’s one’s team more than the other? I don’t know what context and logic he has used,” Butt suggested.