Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri is the former head coach of the Indian national cricket team, a cricket commentator, and a former captain of the Indian Cricket Team. Shastri is of Marathi-Mangalorean descent, was born on 27 May 1962 in Bombay, and studied at Don Bosco High School. As a teenager, he took cricket seriously. In his last year at the junior college, he was selected to represent the Bombay team in the Ranji Trophy. At 17 years and 292 days, he was then the youngest cricketer to play for Bombay.
As a player, he played for the Indian national cricket team between 1981 and 1992 in both Test matches and One Day Internationals. Although he started his career as a left-arm spin bowler, he later transformed into a batting all-rounder. Within eighteen months of his Test debut, Shastri had moved up from a tenth position in the batting order to be an opening batsman.
Due to his above-average height (he stood 6′ 3″ tall) and upright stance, he had a limited number of shots against fast bowling, but was able to put the lofted shot to good use against spin bowling. Ravi played either as an opening batsman or in the middle order.
The highlight of his career was when he was elected Champion of Champions in the World Championship of Cricket in Australia in 1985. In the same season, on 10 January 1985, he equaled West Indian Garry Sobers’s record of hitting six sixes in an over in first-class cricket. He was regarded as a potential captain, but his image outside cricket,[4] injuries, and tendency to lose form at crucial times meant that he captained India in only one Test match.
In domestic cricket, he played for Bombay and led them to the Ranji Trophy title in his final year of playing. He also played four seasons of county cricket for Glamorgan. He was forced to retire aged 31 due to a recurring knee injury. He has done commentary on behalf of the BCCI in the matches that India plays. In 2014, he became the director of the Indian cricket team for a period of eight months from India’s tour of England until the 2015 World Cup. On 13 July 2017, he was appointed as the head coach of the Indian cricket team. On 16 August 2019, he was re-appointed as the head coach of the senior men’s Indian team and remained in charge until the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup.
On 18 March 1990, Shastri married Ritu Singh.They have one daughter named Alekha Shastri. After 22 years of marriage, Shastri filed for divorce. He made his debut as a TV commentator at the World Masters Tournament in Mumbai in March 1995. In 2003, he collaborated in starting up Showdiff Worldwide, a celebrity management company. He has since served ICC and BCCI in temporary official capacities and as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. He was named the Celebrity Torchbearer for the Oman Leg of the 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay.
