Former Indian cricketer Ravi Shastri was the director of the Indian team from 2014-16, after which he was appointed the head coach of the team in 2017. Ravi Shastri replaced Anil Kumble, who resigned from the post after a one-year tenure. According to reports, after the rift with Anil Kumble, Virat Kohli was adamant on making Shastri the coach.

During the tenure of former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri, it was often said that he is a ‘yes man’, meaning he agrees with captain Kohli. In 2018, during the press conference before the Australia tour, Virat Kohli was asked whether Ravi Shastri is a ‘yes man’? Kohli called the question bizarre and responded by calling Shastri a man of integrity and said that he often rejects his ideas in favor of the team.

I can take the right advice from him- Virat Kohli

According to ESPNcricinfo, Virat Kohli replied in the press conference saying,

About saying ‘yes’ all the time, that’s the weirdest thing I’ve heard, I don’t think there’s anyone in Indian cricket who has said ‘no’ to me more than him. Honestly, because he’s someone I can talk to and get a genuine opinion and he’ll tell me something that if it doesn’t need to be done, it doesn’t need to be done. I’ve made more changes to my game by listening to him than anyone else in the past.

Ravi Shastri was the head coach of the Indian team from 2017 to 2021. Let us tell you, in 2017 itself, Virat Kohli was appointed captain of all three formats. A new era of Indian Test cricket began under the duo. The team won 22 out of 39 Tests. In 2021, India won the Test series in Australia for the first time and the team was the number-1 team in the ICC Test rankings from 2017-2021.