“He flashes and flashes hard”

Say what you want about Ravi Shastri, one thing you cannot deny is that the man has the gift of the gab. Whether he waxes eloquent about tracer bullets or firmly believes in cricket always being the eventual winner, the current Indian head coach’s numerous commentary stints have given proof that he’s a man of plenty of words.

So, why would you even expect that just becoming the Indian team’s head coach would stop his flow of one-liners? His most recent one on Dhoni’s form – “picture abhi bhi baaki hai, dost” – was just the latest. Here’s a latest of quotable quotes Shastri has made since he took up his new assignment:

From the Shaz dictionary:

  • “I feel I have matured a lot in the last two weeks”

Looks like the entire Virat Kohli-Anil Kumble saga took a toll on the unflappable Shastri as well. This line was made at his first press conference after getting the job.

  • “For me – what you see is what you’ll get. I always like to call a spade a spade and people who have played with me know me fully well.”

In case you were wondering, the coach sets the record straight.

  • “The captain will always be the boss of the team”

When Virat Kohli is there, why fear?

  • “We can’t play Ashwin and Jadeja all the time.”

It’s an honest confession. So what if they’re the best bowlers in the team currently?

  • “Ravi bhai always tells us to go out there hit the opponent out of the park”

Wriddhiman Saha elaborates on Ravi Shastri’s intricate “hitting” style.

  • “To be honest, with a batting unit like this one, the last thing you’d do is lose sleep”

Nope, not an insomniac.

  • “Witnessed a jail break in Kandy exactly half an hour to midnight”

Looks like Shastri has spent all that free time watching too many westerns.

  • “Only the fittest of the lot will survive and thrive going forward”

Shastri makes an evolutionary remark.

  • “This team is used to doing things that a lot of other (Indian) teams haven’t done and that too overseas”

This line came just after India landed in Sri Lanka before their series. Say what you want, you can never accuse him of not encouraging the team.

  • “It’s (what they are getting) nothing, (Rs) 2 crore is peanuts”

The head coach expresses his rightful unhappiness at the state of poverty this penniless Indian team is living in.

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