Xtra Time Web Desk : Former India batting legend Sunil Gavaskar picked up biggest highlight from Ravi Shastr’s career as a head coach of Indian national cricket team. Shastri joined the team as a head coach in 2017 and his tenure ended with India’s low-key performances at the T20 World Cup in UAE last October. Gavaskar recalled India’s come back from a 36-all out in Adelaide opener in the 2020/21 tour of Australia to win their second consecutive Test series Down Under.
India wickets fell at 36 in the pink-ball Test against Australia last December – their lowest-ever innings total in the history of Test cricket. Following the decimation, Virat Kohli returned home for the birth of his child while other players started getting ruled out due to injuries. And against all odds India not playing with their best XI for the crucial three Tests, the Ajinkya Rahane-led side scripted a comeback of ages to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Rishabh Pant’s electrifying 89 runs steered India to victory.
“It obviously has got to be the way India bounced back earlier this year after being dismissed for 36 (in Adelaide Pink Ball Test). Because when something like that happens, the team tends to lose belief in itself, there is a sense of disappointment and there is a sense of giving up. And that is where Shastri played a huge role because from what I’ve read, is that he said that ‘you wear this 36 like a badge’.”
“And then Ajinkya Rahane, the way he led the side in the three Tests, and of course everyone stepped up. We played almost like an A team not even the regular team. But every player who played in that, every replaced player came in and did well. And that is again tells you the kind of influence and input that Ravi Shastri had on the younger players and the fringe players who are waiting for their opportunities,” said Gavaskar.
With Shastri at the helm, India reached the semi-final of the 2019 ODI World Cup, the final of the inaugural World Test Championship and suffered a humiliating group-stage exit in the 2021 World T20. India also won two back-to-back Test series in Australia, managed to take an unassailable 2-1 lead in the England Test series in 2021.