Massive boost to have Shastri around team - Kohli

Virat Kohli, India's Test captain, has said Ravi Shastri's presence as the team director was a "massive boost" for the side. Shastri, who took on the role of the team director after the Test series against England last year, was given an extension for the upcoming Bangladesh tour.

"He is a guy who does not shy away from responsibility. He is someone who takes the blows on the chin. He keeps moving forward," Kohli told The Cricket Monthly in an interview conducted before Shastri's re-appointment as team director for the tour of Bangladesh. "There is no two ways about his thinking. He is the most amazing person to have around this team right now because it is a young unit and the kind of confidence he gives. He has authority; when he speaks people respect him.

"There is no talk just for the sake of it. He is sensible and something that gives you a lot of confidence and a lot of assurance. That is what you need as young players: someone who has played for India for 10-11 years and has hundreds all over the world as an opener after starting as No. 11. So you know the mindset the person has, the way he has played his cricket."

Speaking to the magazine after Shastri's tenure had ended, following the World Cup, Kohli said: "We would love to have him on board even if he is doing the same job right now. Just to have him around the group is a massive boost for us. To have him around the group in some way would be lovely. To have the head coach or who to have and what to do about is all part of the discussion when we sit down."

Kohli, who had a dismal tour of England in 2014, also credited Shastri for a technical input that helped him turn his form around and score heavily in Australia. Kohli scored 692 runs in four games, at an average of 86.5 with four hundreds and a fifty, in contrast to the England tour where he had 134 runs across five Tests at an average of 13.4.

"He is the one who suggested I stand in front of the crease and on off stump," Kohli said. "I was not convinced to begin with. I was thinking in my head that it might expose my stumps. He said just trust me, do it. I did not do it in England. But I went to Australia. I thought about it. I said, why not. I am playing international cricket. I can't be sitting in a comfort zone and let guys dominate me. It came out beautifully. I am thankful to him for sticking by me after England."