- Shastri is an Indian cricket commentator, former player and current head coach of the Indian national cricket team.
- His wife, Ritu, has been identified as one of the 19 injured in a grenade blast at Colombo's former Race Course, Sri Lanka.
- Was adjudged "Champion of Champions" as the best player of the 1985 Benson & Hedges World Championship of Cricket won by India beating arch rivals Pakistan in the final at Melbourne. Was also gifted with an Audi whose customs were waived off by India's then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
- Represented Glamorgan in English County Cricket.
- His family is of Mangalorean decent.
- Made his test debut during the tour of New Zealand in 1981, taking 15 wickets in the 3 tests of the series.
- One of the 2 Indian batsmen to bat from positions 1 to 11, the other being Vinoo Mankad, Shastri was promoted to opening batsman during the 1982 tour of England, scoring 66 in his first ever innings at the position.
- First ever test scalp of legendary spin bowler Shane Warne, in Warne's debut at the Sydney Cricket Ground during India's 1991-92 tour of Australia. Shastri had achieved his highest test score of 206 by the time Warne dismissed him. It also remained the highest individual innings by an Indian against Australia till the 2001 Border-Gavaskar Trophy when VVS Laxman compiled a match winning 281 at Kolkata as well as in Australia until the 2003-04 Border-Gavaskar Series when Rahul Dravid scored a match winning 233 at Adelaide.
- Although he blamed Kapil Dev and Mohammad Azharuddin for depriving him of the captaincy of the Indian team, Shastri's off-field activities like heavy drinking and suspected drug abuse were the key factors BCCI refrained from ever appointing him as full-time skipper, Shastri did however captain India in the Chennai test of the 1987-88 home series against the West Indies and was vice-captain under Azharuddin for the 1992 World Cup in New Zealand and Australia.
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