For whatever it meant for the fans of cricket, especially Indian fans, the win at MCG in the Boxing Day Test was indeed a special moment for the team itself. But, for Ravi Shastri, who has garnered more headlines and attention for his bullish statement than his observations as the coach of the India team, it was ‘one of the great comebacks in the history of the game.’
Shastri was the man addressing the post-match press conference after India’s eight-wicket win over the hosts. The coach did not hold back in pulling out another set of his trademark hyperbole. To be fair to him, he explained that getting bundled out for 36 runs in Adelaide and then turning things around swiftly in a short period of three days is the reason behind him rating the win so highly.
"This will go down in the annals of Indian cricket...world cricket...as one of the great comebacks in the history of the game. To be rolled over for 36 and then three days later get up and be ready to punch was outstanding. I think the boys deserve all the credit for the character they've shown. A real character," Shastri said in the virtual press conference.
India were dominating the proceedings of the Test match on the back of stellar bowling performances accompanied by proactive captaincy of Ajinkya Rahane. He backed his instincts to pull out tricks that outfoxed the host team's batsmen. In the second innings as well, when the lower order of the Australian batting line up tried hard to grind it out and delay the inevitable, he was calm and kept all his bowlers focussed and did not allow the hosts to run away with the game. He was tied up a little when Umesh Yadav went off the field and didn't come back to bowl. But his reassurances helped the debutant Siraj bowl with a full heart and it paid dividends for the team. Coach Shastri was highly appreciative of Rahane’s shrewdness as well as calmness while being in control of the proceedings in the middle.
"He's a very shrewd leader, he has a good understanding of the game, he's a good reader of the game. And I think that his calm composure out there in the middle helped the debutants as well, helped the bowlers as well. There was a calming influence there. And in spite of losing Umesh, he did a great job out there," Shastri said of Rahane’s qualities as the captain of the side.
However, Shastri downplayed the widely-discussed aspect of Rahane being a bowlers’ captain and said that he was not aware of any term like that. “I don't know, I'm hearing it for the first time. What is a bowling captain? There is no definition as such for that," Shastri argued.
The team dominated the hosts in all aspects of the game, but in Shastri’s views, it was Rahane’s ton that set the tone and snatched the momentum away from the Aussies. He said that the right-hander came at a crucial juncture, but went on to bat for six hours when the conditions for batting were the toughest out of the four days of the Test match. For his magnificent hundred in the first innings that set up a lead for India, and guided the team home while chasing on the fourth day, Rahane was awarded Man of the Match award.
"I think it [turning point] was the innings of Ajinkya Rahane. The discipline on such a big stage in a massive arena. To come as captain of your team, bat at No. 4. When he came out to bat, we were two down for 60 and then to bat 6 hours on probably the toughest day to bat. Because it was overcast all day, the sun never came out and he batted for 6 hours. Unbelievable concentration. I thought that was the turning point, his innings was the turning point," he added.
There were some tough calls made by the team management, including Shastri himself, and playing Jadeja as the fifth bowler as well as banking on him and Rishabh Pant to cover for the void left by Virat Kohli was one of the prominent ones. In hindsight, Jadeja’s addition turned out to be a masterstroke as Umesh Yadav got injured in the second innings, leaving the team with only four bowling options and Shastri does not want to walk back on the decision of playing five bowlers. He believes that Jadeja has grown as a genuine all-rounder and that he can bat at number six or even number five if the team needs, and it brings another advantage for the side.
"He's [Jadeja] a genuine allrounder. That's why he bats where he does. He can bat at 6, he can bat at 5 on a given occasion. He's a genuine, genuine all-rounder. And he lends a lot of balance to the side. Also, when you play overseas, there's always a chance of one of the bowlers getting injured, like you saw with Umesh. So with Jadeja, it gives a better balance and it also gives the fast bowlers some respite with Jaddu and Ash doing the bowling," Shastri said.
Shastri also heaped praise on Siraj for bowling long spells and putting in a lot of effort in the second innings, when the pitch was not providing any assistance. Shastri emphasized the importance of playing an aggressive brand of cricket and said that playing with that kind of approach rubs on to the players when they are given an opportunity in big matches like the MCG Test.
"That's the brand of cricket we have been playing for the last three or four years," Shastri said. "When you saw these two debutants show that kind of maturity and discipline there, it was great to see. Today, Siraj's effort was outstanding, actually. He might not have the numbers to show for it but the discipline and the ability to bowl long spells, the maturity he showed for someone playing his first Test, doing the job he had to do once we lost Umesh, was outstanding.”
Other than Jadeja’s decision, the team management had also decided to drop Prithvi Shaw and handed a debut to Shubman Gill, who according to Shastri, batted with more maturity than someone batting in his debut Test. He credited Gill for batting with confidence and praised the right-hander for not shying away from the big fight against Australian pace bowlers whom he combated with absolute flair.
"Shubman going and playing with that kind of flair, later on, was great to see. Great character. More than anything else, great character. He looked very very mature for someone playing his first Test match. He looked very calm and composed. Wasn't afraid to play his shots, which was great to see. Even in the second innings, it was very easy to get into a shell but he went out there and played his natural game, which was great from the team point of view."
India must have felt dejected after the humiliation they received on the third day of Adelaide and with Virat Kohli returning home along with the injury to Mohammed Shami, must have complicated matters for the team management. It would not have been unwise of the team management to discuss the loss and the way forward from the debacle in Adelaide, but Shastri said that there were no chats about the third day of the Adelaide Test as he believed that the key for performances like the one the team pulled off at the MCG was to move on from the disastrous half an hour period at the Adelaide Oval that cost India the game they had dominated for the most part.
"No chat. And when we arrived in Melbourne, it was the things we have got to do to get up and fight,” Shastri added.
Shastri confirmed the return of Rohit Sharma, who will join the team tomorrow and it has given the team management a problem of plenty from a situation of plenty of problems in Adelaide as Gill has looked solid and ideally, shouldn't be dropped.
However, Mayank Agarwal has looked out of sorts in all the four innings he has batted on the tour so far and, with the return of Rohit, the team management will have to contemplate taking another big decision on whether Rohit should be induced back to the playing XI without having any sort of match practice.
"About Rohit - he joins the team tomorrow. So we'll have a chat with him to see where he's placed physically because he's been in quarantine for the last couple of weeks. We've also got to see how he feels before we take the call.”
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