Did Ravi Shastri's Statement On R Ashwin Expose His Double Standards?

Shastri told The Indian Express that he felt he did nothing wrong and that his job was not to butter everyone’s toast. He also added that he was glad he made the statement, for it made Ashwin do something different...

- Renin Wilben

After the Virat Kohli vs Sourav Ganguly controversy, it now seems there is another war of words in Indian cricket. This time between veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and former head coach Ravi Shastri. In a recent interview with ESPN Cricinfo, Ashwin had revealed that he felt crushed when Shastri said after the New Year Test in Sydney in 2019 that Kuldeep Yadav would be India’s No. 1 overseas spinner. In response, Shastri told The Indian Express that he felt he did nothing wrong and that his job was not to butter everyone’s toast. He also added that he was glad he made the statement, for it made Ashwin do something different.

During his interview, Ashwin also lamented that he sometimes felt that rules for him and others were different in the team regarding injury issues. He also made the shocking revelation that he contemplated retirement from the game multiple times between 2018 and 2020 for a number of reasons. In an ironic sense, Shastri’s reply to Ashwin has justified his claim that he received different treatment in the team to others.