Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has responded to Ravichandran Ashwin’s ‘I felt crushed’ admission. While speaking at an event, Shastri, in his inimitable style, clarified that him giving Kuldeep Yadav a chance was only fair as the latter had bowled well on the Australia tour, while Ashwin was not a part of the playing XI in Sydney.

Shastri stood by his words and went on to reckon that he is glad to know he hurt Ashwin as that forced him to do “something different”, while adding that he would have taken such comments from his coach as a “challenge”, attempting to prove himself.

“[R] Ashwin did not play the Test in Sydney and Kuldeep [Yadav] bowled well. So, it’s fair I give Kuldeep a chance,” Shastri said in a conversation with Indian Express e.Adda. “If that hurt Ashwin, I am very happy. It made him do something different. My job is not to butter everyone’s toast. My job is to state facts without agenda.”

“If your coach challenges you, what will you do – go home crying and say I won’t come back? I, as a player, would take it as a challenge, to prove the coach wrong. If my statement on Kuldeep hurt Ashwin, I am glad I made that statement. It made him do something different.”

“The way Ashwin bowled in 2019 and the way he has bowled in 2021 is chalk and cheese. About throwing Ashwin under the bus, he need not worry because I had told the bus driver to stop 2-3 feet short. The message to Ashwin in 2018 was that he had to be fit. He has worked on that and look how’s bowling now. He’s world-class,” Shastri added.

Ashwin, in his recent interview with ESPNcricinfo, admitted that he felt crushed when Shastri labeled Kuldeep as India’s No.1 overseas spinner. He added that even though he wanted to feel happy for his teammate’s success, he was surrounded by a feeling of lack of belongingness.

“… I felt crushed. Absolutely crushed. We all talk about how important it is to enjoy your team-mates’ success. And I was happy f.