Cardiff Metropolitan University awarded an honorary fellowship to renowned pundit and former cricket player Ravi Shastri of India. The award was given to Shastri at the Glamorgan County Cricket Club’s historic Sophia Gardens field, where he played for four seasons in the late 1980s.
Ravi Shastri services as an exceptional cricket player, coach, and pundit were acknowledged with this award.
After accepting the accolade, he was overjoyed and said he had never anticipated it while he was a player for Glamorgan.
“It is a wonderful honour. When I played here a long time ago, I never would have guessed that this would occur. I had a great time playing for Glamorgan here in Cardiff, and I’m happy to be returning,” the BBC cited Shastri as saying.
Following his receipt of the esteemed honour, the 62-year-old also expressed his satisfaction on ‘X’, the former Twitter.
The former head coach of India wrote, “Honoured to receive The Honorary Fellowship from Cardiff Metropolitan University today.”
Honoured to receive The Honorary Fellowship from the Cardiff Metropolitan University today 🙏 pic.twitter.com/MdMBQTloWV
— Ravi Shastri (@RaviShastriOfc) August 1, 2024
Shastri played an important part in India’s 1983 World Cup victory while serving as their representative from 1981 to 1992. In the 1985–86 Ranji Trophy season, he made history as the first Indian batter to hit six sixes in an over while playing for Mumbai against Baroda. He spent four seasons in Wales after being signed by Glamorgan in 1987. He was a key player in the team’s 1988 journey to the Benson & Hedges Cup semifinals.
In December 1992, Shastri participated in his final international match at St George’s Park against South Africa. Shastri stepped into commentary after ending his playing career and quickly gained popularity among the audience.
He also supported the ‘Pulse-Polio’ campaign as an advocate for Unicef for ten years, until India finally eradicated polio. He accepted the difficult position of head coach for India in 2017, and he led the team to victory in a historic Test series in Australia, which made them the best team in the world in the red-ball format.
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Under Shastri’s leadership, the squad participated in the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) final. Shastri returned to commentary after his coaching career ended in 2021, and his in-depth analysis throughout the matches is winning cricket fans over.