Ravi Shastri, Sourav Ganguly play down rift talks

Mumbai: Newly appointed Team India head coach Ravi Shastri and former India captain Sourav Ganguly played down talks of a rift between themselves, saying that they are both working towards the betterment of Indian cricket.

Shastri, who was appointed as the head coach of the Indian cricket team late on Tuesday night, had had his war of words with Ganguly last year, after the former failed to bag the India coach job, which was given to Anil Kumble.

When asked about the reported rifts, Ravi Shastri pointed out that both him and Sourav Ganguly are former captains, and are only working towards the betterment of Indian cricket.

"We are two former captains, there will be arguments. Everyone is not on the same page all the time. But there is mutual respect,” Shastri said to India Today.

"There were good questions asked and I answered. You're looking at the bigger picture and the betterment of Indian cricket and that's paramount. You need to do the best for Indian cricket,” said Shastri.

Ganguly himself played down the rift talks as well. He even went on to say that he would take the matter to the Committee of Administrators (COA).

"Sad it's being made as Sourav vs Ravi. I need to address that. I will speak to COA," he said.

"If that's the case, no point doing it. There are others in the committee," Ganguly added.

Further reports of a tug of war between the two have cropped up in the media after Zaheer Khan was appointed as the bowling coach of the Indian cricket team, even though Shastri reportedly wanted the experienced Bharat Arun for the role.

Reportedly Ganguly was only convinced about Shastri’s appointment after it was agreed that Zaheer would be appointed as the bowling coach.