Ravi Shastri had a mixed 2018 as far as results were concerned. While India won ODI series in South Africa, T20I series in England, Nidahas Trophy in Sri Lanka and the Asia Cup in UAE, he faced heavy criticism after the team lost the Test series in England and South Africa despite being the number one side in the world. What made matters worse for Shastri was his some controversial statements. Even after losing the series in England, Shastri had boldly claimed that the current side is the best travelling Indian team in the last ’15-20 years’.
But unlike 2018, 2019 started on a stunning note for the head coach and his side. India, on Monday, registered their first-ever Test series win in Australia. The Virat Kohli-led side won the four-match Border-Gavaskar series 2-1 after the fourth and final Test ended in a draw due to poor weather. India were well on their way of clinching the series 3-1 after posting 622 for 7 and bowling out the hosts for just 300 to enforce a follow-on. However, rain and bad light quashed their hopes. But the poor weather could not stop the world number one side from winning a historic series. India had taken an unassailable lead in the series after winning the first and third Test in Adelaide and Melbourne respectively.
And after winning the series, Shastri has once again come up with a bold comment. The former India allrounder hit back at the critics once again, saying he never cared about what they said.
“When you are honest about what you want to achieve, you have that passion and the hunger to go out there day after day, who cares what people say. Look at scorebook, look at the result the rest is history. You can keep jabbering away.
“I feel the people who jabber away are minority, you don’t know the millions of fans this Indian cricket has. Thank you for picking us up when we are down and you outnumber the jabbering crowd,” Shastri told India Today.
Shastri and Kohli had also faced criticism for their poor selections. When asked about it, Shastri said:
“There has been no Indian team that has won in three countries in a year. We won a Test match in South Africa, won a Test match in England and won a Test match in Australia. You have to take your chances to realise what is the best combination.
“If you are scared of experimenting then you’ll never know what is the right combination. You might make mistakes and why do you make mistakes… so that you learn from those mistakes. But you’ll be dumb if you keep making those mistakes, so get smart. Learn from your mistakes,” Shastri added.