Ravi Shastri snubs Rohit Sharma as he names India's best test opener in his coaching stint

Ravi Shastri names the best Test opener during his tenure as Team India's Head Coach & Director.

One of India's most successful coaches in history, Ravi Shastri feels Murali Vijay was the best Test opener he had in his team during his coaching tenure from 2017 to 2021. Before taking up the role of coaching, in 2014 Shastri was the director of the Indian cricket team for a period of eight months from India's tour of England until the 2015 World Cup.

Under the coaching of Shastri, India peaked many times of which the 2020-21 India's Tour of Australia will be the highlight of Shastri's career as a coaching personnel of Team India. Having been associated with Team India for many years, Shastri feels that Murali Vijay was the best Test opener during his period as a coach.

In a tweet posted by Ravi Shastri, he can be seen with the former Indian player, Murali Vijay. Opening up about his choice of India's best test opener, Ravi Shastri said, "Best opening batsman who understood the job as Test match opener during my tenure as team director & head coach."

Speaking about Ravi Shastri's coaching career, he had the sole responsibility till 2016 and the 2016 World T20 saw India reach the semifinals again. They also briefly held the No 1 rank in Tests around February 2016. Shastri was removed in 2016 when Anil Kumble took over but on July 13, 2017, he was officially appointed as the head coach of the Indian team, reuniting with Kohli to forge a vibrant partnership.

Murali Vijay - One of the bests in the tests

Test cricket is a game of grit, perseverance, and patience, not mastered by many. India over the years have performed well at home in Test cricket but when it came to overseas conditions, the weakness in the batting unit always came glaring in the face. In Murali Vijay, India found a solid Test opener who was able to overcome the overseas conditions with ease and proved to be a rock-solid wall for the team.

Coincidentally, Murali Vijay began his international debut against Australia back in 2008 and a decade later, he hung up his shoes from all forms of international cricket in 2018 against the same team. He made his test debut in Vidarbha where he scored 33 and 41 runs in both innings.

In the years to come, Vijay became India's regular opener and one of the most trusted players in overseas conditions. He ended his Test career with 3982 runs in 61 games at an average of 38.29.

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