Ravi Shastri has his say on reports of rift with BCCI President Sourav Ganguly

The reports of a possible rift between Indian cricket team head coach Ravi Shastri and BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has been doing the rounds for quite some time now but Shastri dismissed it as ‘brilliant chaat and bhel puri for the media’. Shastri and Ganguly had a public fallout in 2016 when the former reapplied for coach’s job and the latter was a part of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), which selected Anil Kumble for the position. In 2017, Shastri got back the job after Kumble resigned following his much-publicised difference of opinion with skipper Virat Kohli.

“He [Ganguly] took over Indian cricket at the most troubled times. You needed the faith of the people to come back. What he has done as a cricketer... I have the utmost respect. If people think I don’t respect that, to hell with them. As far as the Sourav-Shastri game that goes, that’s brilliant chaat and bhel puri for the media,” Ravi Shastri said in the latest episode of India Today Inspiration.

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During ‘India Today Conclave (East)’ on Friday, Ganguly was asked about conjecture that he has an axe to grind with Shastri because of past differences.

“That’s why it is speculation. I don’t have an answer to it [speculations]. It’s pretty simple. It’s about performance. You perform, you continue or else somebody else would take over. It’s a simple formula,” Ganguly had said.

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Ganguly also saidthat there shouldn’t be a need for re-appointment of the head coach even though the ad-hoc Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) formed to select the head coach back in August was served conflict notice by Ethics Officer DK Jain.

“I don’t think so that it will jeopardize the selection of Shastri. I am not sure though. Even we had selected the coach when there was this conflict issue,” Ganguly pointed.

(With agency inputs)