India’s men’s cricket head coach Ravi Shastri has urged for patience amid raging protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act, saying that he foresees plenty of positives coming out of the controversial law in the long run, reported PTI.

The 57-year-old Shastri, a former India batsman, said he is confident that the government has thought through the decision to introduce the law.

“When I see all this CAA and things going around it, I think as an Indian. In my team also, we have all sorts, different castes, different religions whatever but Indian. I say guys, be patient because I can see plenty of positives coming out of it in long run,” Shastri is quoted as saying by CNN News18.

“I am sure the government has thought about it properly. There are still certain things to be tweaked here and there and they will do it for the benefit of Indians. I am speaking as an Indian here. I am not talking about x, y, z religion because I am speaking as an Indian. That’s who I have been, I realised it, even more, when I played for the country. So, I have the right to speak as an Indian,” he said.

The Citizenship Amendment Act, approved by Parliament on December 11, provides citizenship to refugees from six minority religious communities from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, provided they have lived in India for six years and entered the country by December 31, 2014. The Act has been widely criticised for excluding Muslims, leading to protests against it.

India captain Virat Kohli was asked about the Act ahead of the Guwahati T20I against Sri Lanka and the Indian skipper had weighed his words carefully.

“On the issue, I do not want to be irresponsible and speak on something that has, you know, radical opinions both sides. I need to have total information, total knowledge of what it means and what is going on and then be responsible to give my opinion on it,” Kohli had said.

The skipper made it clear that he will not like to get embroiled in a controversy by commenting on a subject that he is not well aware of.

“Because you can say one thing and then someone can say another thing. So, I would not like to get involved in something that I don’t have total knowledge of and it’s not going to be responsible on my part to comment on it.”

(With PTI inputs)