Ravi Shastri gives a clear cut response to Ashwin’s ‘colleagues, not friends’ remarks

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri hit out at Ravichandran Ashwin’s recent comment about the growing feeling of being colleagues in Team India against the friendships that were once a part of the team.

“For me, it was always colleagues. You will have buddies who are colleagues. I mean… how many close friends do anyone have? If you go and ask anyone, they will say 4-5… in their life! I’m happy with 5 close friends in my life, I don’t want more than that,” Shastri told The Week when asked about Ashwin’s comments.

“What I’m saying is, all the time colleagues. Commentary box, colleagues,” he said further.

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Ashwin had made the remarks earlier this month in an Indian Express interview following India’s humiliating 209-run loss to Australia in the WTC final, the big match Ashwin was not picked up for despite being the top Test bowler in ICC rankings. The decision to bench him in the final had attracted the ire of many veterans.

“This is an era where everybody is a colleague. Once upon a time when cricket was played, all your teammates were friends. Now, they’re colleagues. There’s a big difference because here people are there to advance themselves and to stride ahead of another person sitting to your right or left. So nobody’s got the time to say, ‘Okay, boss what are you up to’?” he had said.

“In fact, I believe cricket gets better when you share it. It gets better when you understand another person’s technique and journey. But it doesn’t happen anywhere close to how much it must happen. Nobody will come for your help. It’s an isolated journey. Of course, you can reach any professional you want to, tap into some coach, you can pay and go, practice, try to feed of them and all that. But sometimes we forget that cricket is a very self-taught sport.”

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