Mumbai, April 27: Former India cricket team head coach Ravi Shastri has said New England men’s team managing director Rob Key has a chore cut out as he begins the process of rebuilding the Test team after heavy bruising. suffered during the ashes and the series in the Caribbean.
Like Shastri, who went from being a commentator to guiding India to become the most successful Test side in the world, Key is also making a similar transition, with the 59-year-old Indian legend saying that the most important thing is to score the guideline “from the beginning”.
Key was appointed managing director of England men’s cricket on April 17 and has been tasked with overseeing the team’s transition. His first big task would be to name the new Test captain after Joe Root recently resigned.
“Rob may have more work to do with the domestic game but, when it comes to the national team, it’s very similar,” Shastri told The Guardian. “The most important thing is to get among the players and set a pattern from the beginning: what do you believe in, what do you think of them and change the mentality to compete and win. You have to be bullish and brutal to want to achieve it. For us, and now for England, it was about setting the challenge of winning abroad, big time.” Under Shastri, India twice beat Australia away from home, thrashed Sri Lanka and the West Indies, and currently lead the incomplete series against England 2-1: the final test will be played in July this year.
On Key’s switch from his long stint in the commentary box to rebuilding England’s Test side, Shastri said: “You put everything you said as a commentator behind you. Park. When I was the (India) team manager ( 2014-2016) ), it was about diagnosing problems: they asked me to hire and fire, I could enter whoever I wanted and I could show the door to whoever I didn’t. And it was also outlining how we wanted to play: be aggressive and ruthless, to increase the fitness levels, to get a bunch of fast bowlers to take 20 overseas wickets.” England are going through a terrible phase in Test cricket, having lost 17 Tests abroad (and five Test series) since 2017, an unwelcome record they hold alongside Bangladesh. Key faces a big task getting the team back on track, and Shastri said instilling a fighting mentality on the side was crucial.
“Tell your players to embrace the culture of a country, mingle with its people, understand who they are, then give them everything, so they know a force is coming for them. Give it back immediately and get some runs. Get up, have the stomach for a fight and when you have the ball, you give it back immediately, without compromise. It’s about results, but the goodwill if you’re successful? Well, you don’t get that as a player or commentator.” Shastri backed Ben Stokes to turn around the fortunes of the England Test team. “The adrenaline of the captaincy, not that he needs it, could make Stokes even more than the incredible player he is now. The important relationship is with the captain: the moment there is friction, things go downhill. But they will be fine because the England I saw last year have enough talent and ability to compete. I have no doubts about that. It’s about their mindset.”