A Gentle Genius at that one! How many cricketers can one think of who came into the Indian cricket team as a 5th bowler , a batsman at the fall of the 9th wicket going on to open the innings as a batsman, share the ball with the much acclaimed bowlers and also captain the country with such aplomb in all these disciplines .The only name that comes to my mind is Ravi Shastri. Ravi Shastri, whose inclusion and retention in the team for many years was often debated by many, was one of the best thinking cricketers that India has produced. After all one does not find true all-rounders anymore these days thanks to the hectic international cricket seasons and more test playing nations. Ravi Shastri managed a fine balance between sensible bowling, reasonably good batting and was often called as a ‘Sheath Anchor’ by the commentators and pundits of the game. How can anyone forget his ‘Armer’ ball which felled many a Martin Crowe, David Boon, Mike Gatting, Salim malik et al. His escapades with the bat are again praise worthy, six sixers in an over off Tilak Raj albeit in a First class match, his mastery of the famed leg glance often called the ‘Chapathi Shot’. He was the only one who could play the leg glance on a high rise ball on the off-stump!!! Bowlers like Bruce Reid, Craig Mc Dermott, Rumesh Ratnayake, Even Chatfield, Wasim Akram etc who have bowled to him would testify as to what an unorthodox player he was. Ravi Shastri as an individual accepted his weakness and tailored his game accordingly. The third man fence or the Long On fence would be his destined fielding position more because of his long strides. Right from his days at the Nirlon Sports Club in Bombay, The Ranji & Duleep Trophy matches and Test cricket, he has always taken pride in representing his home club, state, gymkhana or the nation. His integrity and passion towards the game is unquestionable. Who can forget that fist clenching and pumping whenever he got a wicket or scored a six during the slog overs. His passion for the game and the way he matured as a cricketer of repute is something admirable. His double hundred at the SCG is something no Shastri fan would ever forget. Ravi Shastri did go a long way to be a permanent member of the team, his technical mastery of the game helped him captain the side for a very short time. I always felt that he definitely deserved a longer stint as a captain, but then those days had better captains. This era also saw the Shastri-Srikkanth opening pair as one of the most dependable opening pairs, the other been Boon-Marsh. Talking of his cricketing brain and captaincy, even Sachin Tendulkar once said that Ravi Shastri was his favorite Indian captain-some tribute to this great brain. His cricketing ability combined with attention to details, mastery of language and some good contacts built during his playing days brought him closer to Mark Mascarenhas, the chief of WorldTel. In fact it was Ravi Shastri who introduced Sachin Tendulkar to Mark and WorldTel thus helping the maestro to manage his career and contractual obligations. His success as a player representative and ace commentator are definitely some of his exploits off the field. Sometime back there was also some talk of his ability as a coach. I am not sure as to how much justice he could do to that job, but BCCI should look more to exploit his administration abilities and rapport with players, media (does anyone remember his famous TV show in the early 90s). Finally I always admired him for his grit and resilience. Though I would never say that he was the best cricketer we ever had. I would always say that ‘Here was one ordinary guy who dared to do everything’. Whew… what a career he’s had... That’s something today’s youngsters should emulate. Hats off to the champion in Ravi Shastri..