- ODI Record Under Shastri Was Skewed:
Under Shastri’s tenure, India played 40 ODI’s, winning 24 of them, at a success rate of 60%. From the offset, this looks to be a decent record indeed, but again, it is far from portraying the reality. India began their ODI run under the former all-rounder with a thumping 3-1 away series victory in England, that was followed by successive home victories against West Indies and Sri Lanka. But then, later on, India were thrashed in Bangladesh, South Africa and Australia in succession. The 2-3 loss to South Africa at home was humiliating, as it was the first instance of losing to the Proteas at home. So was the thrashing inflicted upon by Bangladesh. In Australia though, India just about managed to save themselves from total humiliation with a 1-4 drubbing. The fact is crystal clear indeed, that India’s ODI record under Shastri was extremely skewed and inflated. The wins mostly came against Sri Lanka (5-0), an outfit that was asked to come to India at the very last moment. Not to forget, India failed to defend their World Cup title right under Shastri’s tenure.