Ravi Shastri has faced two major World Cup semi-finals defeats – as a player in 1987 and coach in 2019. The former India head coach and director of cricket said that he wishes he could change both these results.
Shastri’s India coaching tenure ended after the T20 World Cup last year. Virat Kohli and co failed to make it to the semifinals in the tournament. However, the 59-year-old’s national stint is highlighted by Test series wins in Australia and well fought matches in England and South Africa. The team also made it to the World Test Championship under him.
With Shastri guiding them, the Men in Blue managed to reach the World Cup semifinals in 2019. They were defeated by New Zealand by 18 runs.
After restricting the Kiwis to 239/8 in 50 overs, India saw a top-order collapse and were dismissed for 221 runs.
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“As coach that semifinal game against New Zealand in 2019 got over the same day. Unfortunately it started raining, we had the momentum,” Shastri said during an interaction on ESPNCricinfo.
The former coach, who is commentating in IPL 2022, further said that he wishes to reverse the result of another World Cup semifinal – when India lost to England in 1987.
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“As a player the 87 World Cup semifinal, I think we had a better team than 83 to go the distance and win the final in Calcutta. So that semifinal loss that hurt,” he said.
Ravi Shastri was also a part of India’s 1983 World Cup winning team that was led by legendary Kapil Dev. He was in the commentary box when MS Dhoni hit Sri Lanka’s Nuvan Kulasekara for a six at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai in the final of the 2011 World Cup to get India its second trophy.
