Indian Cricket has been flourishing by leaps and bounds in the past years. The team has done extremely well since 2017. After a fallout between Indian team players and the management featuring Anil Kumble as the head coach, Ravi Shastri was appointed as the coach. The trio of Ravi Shastri, Bharat Arun, and R Sridhar bid adieu to the Indian Cricket Team after the match on Monday against Namibia. So, what has been the significant contribution of this dynamic trio to the sport? How have they done so many things in so little time? Here is a look at the 5 top achievements that India had under Ravi Shastri: –
First One-Day International Series Win in South Africa: –
Ravi Shastri was appointed coach just after India fails to win the Champions Trophy Final in 2017. He was appointed in July of 2017. In 2018 February, India went on to tour South Africa. After going down to South Africa in the test series by 2-1 in a closely fought series, all eyes were on what the Men in Blue do in the white ball series. In the One Day International tournament, India looked unstoppable. The team was looking dominant as ever. And Virat Kohli was in the form of his life. In a series of 6 games, India won 5. India outplayed South Africa.
The first match was won by India courtesy of a masterclass by Virat Kohli. The second was won by India due to its dominance by Yuzvendra Chahal. And so was the third game which saw a Kohli ton and Kul-Cha Magic. The fourth game was lost by the DLS method but the dominance was retained in the 5th game. This was the first time an Indian team won an ODI series in South Africa since the inception of the game.
Qualification and Dominance in WTC: –
Ravi Shastri revolutionized Indian Test Cricket. He has gone on record to say “Pitch Ko nikaalo Game se”. Meaning that he wants his team to believe that irrespective of the pitch, the toss, and the conditions on-field, they have to dominate. They have to be aggressive. India started their World Test Championship Campaign after the fall-out in the 2019 World Cup in the Semi-Final. India won the two games of the series and sealed 120 points in their bag. Next up was the South Africa series and Ravi Shastri played his masterstroke. This series saw the birth of Test Opener Rohit Sharma.
Rohit seemed an unstoppable beast. He dominated Keshav Maharaj, George Linde, and any other bowler that was thrown his way. Rohit went on to become one of the top scorers for India in the WTC. The next series was the Bangladesh series. Shastri made sure that India adopts the pink ball in this series. The iconic “Pink Ball Test” was at Eden Gardens and saw Virat score a hundred. India’s dominance continued and they qualified for the WTC Final.
Border Gavaskar Series 2018/2019: –
Now this series has to be mentioned in the top 3. This was India’s second clean series win in Australia since the inception of the sport. The series had everything. After a tight finish in the first game, Ravi Shastri as open-mouthed he is said in an interview, “Waha Goti Muh mai that”. The Hindi translation for “Had balls in my mouth till the last wicket.” just shows the transparency that this gem has with media as well. India won the first game. Australia the second. India bounced back to win the third. And the fourth one; it was India’s way but the rain played spoilsport. India won the series 2-1.
Qualifying for 4 Consecutive ICC Tournament Semi-Finals: –
Qualifying for 4 consecutive semifinals in the ICC Tournaments is not every team’s piece of cake. It was certainly possible for the Australians in the early 2000s but since then it has only been India. India for 4 tournaments asserted their dominance at the global level. This began with the 2016 T20 World Cup and then the 2017 ODI Champions Trophy. Further the 2019 ODI World Cup and the 2021 WTC Final. Ravi Shastri made sure that his boys believe that they belong on the global stage.
Ravi Shastri and Bharat Arun made India’s bowling a dominant force. They turned them into wicket-hungry chaps. The duo groomed and unleashed the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Shami, Yadav, Sharma, Navdeep, Siraj, Shardul, Natarajan, Khaleel, and the list goes on.
Honorable Mentions: –
The 2018 Asia Cup.
2-1 lead in 2021 England Series.
9-0 Defeat to Sri Lanka.
2020/2021 Border Gavaskar Trophy: –
From getting bundled out for 36 in the first match to winning the second of the series, from doing a great escape in the third to conquering the fortress in the fourth, Ravi Shastri made the boys believe. This was a series where a full-strength Australian team was playing against a Kohli-less, Rohit-less, Ishant-less India. The situation of the injuries was so grim in the last match that net bowler Natarajan had to be drafted to the main squad.
The streets will never forget Ravi Shastri saying,” This 36, wear this 36 as a batch!”. It was Ravi Shastri’s team that curbed the arrogance of the Aussies. It forced Justin Langer to say, “Never underestimate the Indians.”
To conclude as a fan I would just say, “Thank You Ravi Bhai, Cheers!”.
