Can't See Virat Kohli's Feat Of Beating Australia At Home And Away Being Emulated Soon: Ravi Shastri

India head coach Ravi Shastri has said that Virat Kohli’s historic achievement of beating Australia both at home and away might not be emulated by any other Indian captain. During the 2018/19 season, India won their first-ever Test series on the Australian soil with Virat Kohli in charge of the team. The four-match series had ended 2-1 in Inda’s favour. Prior to that, India had defeated Australia by the same margin under Kohli at home in 2017.

Team India are currently gearing up for the third Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series Down Under. Kohli is currently unavailable as he is in India to attend the birth of his first child. He led the team in the Adelaide Test which India lost by eight wickets. Ajinkya Rahane then took charge of the team and guided the team to a stunning victory in the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

And ahead of the game, Ravi Shastri has said that another Indian captain might not achieve what Kohli has achieved as a captain. Ravi Shastri on Wednesday launched a new book at SCG that details India’s Test cricket battles in Australia across more than seven decades. He also unveiled a portrait of the legendary Sunil Gavaskar at SCG. Shastri highlighted the significance of India’s 2-1 series triumph over Australia in 2018/19, in his foreword for the book which is titled ‘India’s 71-Year Test: The Journey to Triumph in Australia’.

“The satisfaction gained in registering India’s first series win in Australia after 71 years of heartbreak was immense,” Ravi Shastri wrote in the book.

“I can’t see Virat’s feat of winning against Australia both at home and away from being emulated by another Indian captain for a very long time. The great thing about success in Australia is that it doesn’t come easily. As a professional sportsperson, you know that when you win the hard way, you command respect.

“Indian teams have done well in Australia since the turn of the (21st) century but didn’t have the depth of fast-bowling resources. That’s why this Indian team commanded respect from the hard-to-please Aussies like few others in the past. From experience, I can state emphatically there is no such entity as a weak Australian side, especially in their own backyard.

“Anyone who thinks otherwise is uninformed. Australians hate losing and it’s a thought process entertained not just by the 11 on the field, but the whole nation, the fans and the media. When a team tours Australia there is a combined assault like no other. Remember that, and remember that again,” he added.

Meanwhile, the ongoing four-match Test series bewteen Australia and India is currently level at 1-1. The third Test is scheduled to get underway on January 7 at the SCG. Team India have already named their playing eleven for the Test, making two changes to the team that won the MCG Test. Rohit Sharma has replaced Mayank Agarwal while Navdeep Saini has been included too.

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