Ravi Shastri will be remembered as one of India's most successful head coaches. If John Wright took India to new heights, and India won the World Cup under Gary Kirsten's tutelage in 2011, then Shastri helped shape the next generation Indian team - one that was not afraid of any situation or opposition and dealt fire with fire. The Shastri-Virat Kohli combination worked wonders for Indian cricket, winning two Test series in Australia, drawing a 2-2 draw in England, and reaching the first-ever World Test Championship final. With Shastri's assistance, India lived up to its reputation as a tough traveling unit.
Even when his players performed poorly, Shastri was always vocal about his support for them. At the same time, the former India coach did not tolerate complacency, fitness issues, or players who he believed did not learn despite repeated instruction. Veteran India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik, who played during the Shastri era, particularly during the 2019 World Cup, described Shastri's coaching methods and identified two things that he could not tolerate.
"He had a very low tolerance for somebody who wouldn’t bat at a certain pace he did not like or someone who was doing very differently in the nets and in the match, he would go and bat differently. He would not be very appreciative of that. Shastri knew exactly what he wanted from the team, the way in which it was played but his tolerance was very little for failures. He always used to push people to do very well," Karthik said on Cricbuzz docuseries 'Summer Stalemate'.
Most of the time, Shastri would take a bullet for the team, but there have been times when he has publicly expressed his displeasure with a particular player. Shastri openly chastised Cheteshwar Pujara for his poor running between the wickets in 2018, saying he does not want him to be the next Usain Bolt. Later, in 2019, Shastri pointed out Rishabh Pant's rash shots and threatened the young wicketkeeper with a "rap on the knuckles." Such was Shastri's aura. Shastri the player was always full of promise, but he was unable to fully exploit it, according to Karthik, but Shastri the coach more than made up for it.
"I think Shastri the player was somebody who was probably not as talented but fulfilled his talent as coach. He did much better than what he was expected to do. As a coach, he was a larger-than-life person. He was somebody who pushed players to try and achieve special things," he added