Full Name

Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri

Born

May 27, 1962, Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra

Age

61y 297d

Batting Style

Right hand Bat

Bowling Style

Slow Left arm Orthodox

Playing Role

Batting Allrounder

Other

Coach

For over a decade, Ravi Shastri rendered sterling service to Indian cricket as an obdurate opening or middle-order batter, a left-arm spinner integral to the attack, and long-time deputy to a couple of captains.

Tall and good-looking and with an image to match, Shastri was glamorous in an age when few cricketers were - no matter if it was in stark contrast to his playing style, which was stodgy, with pushes and prods where others used more lavish strokes; with the ball, he was mostly not more than defensive, pegging away on a good length. Shastri was like Navjot Sidhu in reverse: starting off as a lower-order hitter, he ended up as a stonewaller at the top of the order. (Though occasionally, contrary to his image as a dour plodder, he went into top gear, as when he equalled Garry Sobers' record of six sixes in an over, in a Ranji Trophy game in January 1985.)

His detractors charged that he batted too slowly, that he was selfish in his batting, that he continued to be in the India side only because his Bombay team-mate Sunil Gavaskar was captain. But Shastri let his performances on the field speak for themselves.

No one could deny his immense value to the side, his commitment to the team's cause, and his consistency. Against Australia he averaged a formidable 77.75 from ten Tests, about a third of those runs coming in Sydney in 1992, when he took young debtuant Shane Warne to the cleaners in making a double-hundred. Another highlight down under came in 1985, when he starred in India's win in the World Championship of Cricket, with eight wickets and 182 runs in five ODIs - the most memorable expression of his value as a utility white-ball player.

A deep thinker and a shrewd strategist, he led India to victory in the one Test he captained - against West Indies in Madras in 1988.

Though he played 80 Tests, Shastri was just 30 when he appeared in his last match. He went on to a career as a commentator known for his combativeness and his robust way with a cliché. He then served as India team director, and later, coach for a spell during which the team chalked up two landmark Test series wins in Australia.

Ravi Shastri Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s6sCtSt
Tests8012114383020635.79--111222360
ODIs15012821310810929.04508961.07418-400
FC245356561320221744.00--3466-1410
List A278250456383138*31.13--637-840

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Tests801251575161851515/758/17940.962.35104.31120
ODIs150136661346501295/155/1536.044.2151.2210
FC245-42422167445099/101-32.892.3683.3-183
List A278-1196681752545/135/1332.184.0947.1350
Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri

Explore Statsguru Analysis

Test
ODI

Debut/Last Matches of Ravi Shastri

Recent Matches of Ravi Shastri

MatchBatBowlDateGroundFormat
West Zone vs Central Zone87 & 1262/136 & 0/2515-Nov-1993WankhedeFC
West Zone vs East Zone9 & 152/8206-Nov-1993SuratFC
West Zone vs North Zone21 & 16--19-Oct-1993VadodaraFC
West Zone vs South Zone770/29 & 5/5510-Oct-1993RajkotFC
India vs South Africa10 & 50/426-Dec-1992GqeberhaTest # 1206

Videos of Ravi Shastri

Photos of Ravi Shastri

Dilip Vengsarkar, Farokh Engineer and Ravi Shastri at the BCCI awards
Ravi Shastri and Farokh Engineer share a laugh at the BCCI awards night
Rohit Sharma has a chat with Ravi Shastri before the toss
Ravi Shastri had plenty of questions for the captains
Cheteshwar Pujara has a chat with Ravi Shastri
Ravi Shastri strikes a pose with the IPL trophy