XtraTime Web Desk: India cricket team head coach Ravi Shastri looked pretty impressed with the team’s win in the first Test against Australia where they beat the home side by 31 runs on day 5 at the Adelaide Oval.
It was a historic win for the Men in Blue as it is the first Indian team to win the first test match of the series in Australia. After this Kohli became the fifth Indian captain to win a test match in Down Under after Bishan Singh Bedi, Gavaskar, Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble.
Shastri is impressed with the discipline shown by the India bowlers. “Very very happy with this win,” Shastri said after the match. “It was a tough, tough Test match. The boys were disciplined and they stuck to their task. We lost in England by 31 runs, we lost a close first match in South Africa by around 60 runs but this is a very good win, feels really good. There’s belief in the team when you get off to a good start.”
In the first innings Pujara was the only batsman who stood at the crease to score a brilliant ton as the visitors reached 250 runs. A series of poor shot selection was the reason of the batting collapse and Shastri pointed it out saying they played “foolish cricket” but quickly rectified in their second essay. “There were some rash shots played [in the first innings], some foolish cricket but they learnt from their mistakes and rectified it in the second innings,” Shastri said.
The pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami picked up 15 of the 20 wickets across the two Austrlaia innings and clocked 123.4 overs between them.
The second Test start’s in four days and Shastri reckoned that the pacers will be resting during the short-break in order to be match-ready for Perth. “They’ll have to rest (and be fully fit for Perth. There’s plenty on offer for the fast bowlers but they’ll have to be at their best. The pacers were brilliant in the first innings, something they’ve worked on. As a bowling unit when you show such kind of discipline, you can put any side under pressure.”