It Is A Gut-Wrenching Feeling:Former Ravi Shastri On PM Modi's Visit To Indian Dressing Room

Former Indian cricketer and head coach Ravi Shastri has responded to the controversy around Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting the Indian dressing room after the Men in Blue lost to Australia in the World Cup final.

"I think it's an outstanding thing simply because I know what a dressing room feels like and I have been in that dressing room for more than seven years as a coach of India apart from many years as a cricketer," he told news agency ANI.

The Prime Minister paid a visit to the Indian dressing room at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Indian fast bowler Mohammed Shami was the first to share a picture of the PM's visit. Later, several photos and videos of the Prime Minister's interaction with the Men in Blue had gone viral. In the visuals, PM modi is seen consoling cricketers such as Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and others.

Many people had criticised the PM for visiting the dressing room. Notably, cricketer-turned-politician Kirti Azad had slammed Modi saying that the ICC rules will not allow a politician to enter the dressing room and stated that PM Modi should have waited outside the dressing room to meet the Indian players.

However, Ravi Shastri, who was the head coach of the Indian team before being replaced by Rahul Dravid, said, "It is a gut-wrenching feeling and when you are down then you seem that you are out. When you get someone like the Prime Minister of the country coming and visiting the dressing room, it is something massive because it can lift the spirits of the players. This is no ordinary man walking in. When you have Prime Minister of a country walking into the dressing room is special. I know what the players would have felt like I know what I would have felt like you know if I was a coach of India."

In the recently-concluded World Cup, India had won 10 matches in a row before being overpowered by Australia in the final by six wickets.