‘Sometimes we didn’t want to see each other’: Ex-selector on Kohli, Shastri

MSK Prasad has defended his relationship with “aggressive professionals” like captain Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri during his tenure as chief selector of the Indian cricket team, which came to an end after the 2019 World Cup.

Prasad was the driving force behind the selection of several players that are today the mainstay of the Indian team, including Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant. But he often faced questions about being overshadowed by the captain and coach.

In a recent interaction, Prasad was once again asked about the perception that he was “too humble”.

“There was a perception that you were too humble in front of someone like Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli. People can’t imagine how you could win arguments against such aggressive professionals?” Prasad was asked at an interaction on cricket.com.

In response, the former India wicketkeeper-batsman revealed that he often engaged both Kohli and Shastri in arguments, but added that all of them were professionals and understood their roles in the team.

“You ask them what kind of arguments we had. Sometimes, we didn’t want to see each other [after meetings] but the beauty of them is that the next morning when we would meet, they would recognise and acknowledge that there is [merit in the] point we made,” Prasad said.

“I am a management student and know how to manage. People want me to blame someone publicly? Why should I do that because it is my family? I may like or dislike decisions even at home in my family but can I come out and say something publicly?” Prasad added.

“Virat and Ravi will tell you about that [how we used to have heated debates]. Just because we didn’t have differences publicly doesn’t mean that we were succumbing to them. Who knows how we have convinced them on so many issues,” he added.