No matter what anyone says about Ravi Shastri, I kinda like the guy. Not necessarily as the coach of the Indian cricket team but as a public figure.
He is entertaining and does (says, drinks) whatever the hell he wants.
Which is not a recent development. Ravi has always been like this, and you realise that when you watch this old interview of his with Karan Thapar, from the year 2000. Here are some gems from the 23-minute-long video.
1. Karan starts the interview by asking Ravi an innocent question about his childhood. Quite hilariously, he straight up dismisses all allegations leveled against him by his parents.
2. Talking about allegations, Ravi accepted the blame for this one without flinching once. That’s because he doesn’t believe what he did was wrong (fair – when did drinking beer shadily in your room after training become wrong?)
3. Full marks for modesty, here.
4. #FactsOnly
6. STILL talking about THAT year. Love this.
7. Finally, Karan asked him about one of the disappointments of his career – never becoming the captain of the Indian cricket team. He was quick to remind him that he did, in fact, lead the side in one match and ‘thrashed’ the opposition. And then added:
8. And finally, some fun stuff about the poster boy of Indian cricket.
Gotta give it to him for being so self-assured, though. You can watch the entire interview, here: