Team India Is More Of Ravi Shastri’s Team Than Virat Kohli’s, Feels Monty Panesar

Former England spinner Monty Panesar opines that Ravi Shastri is more responsible for the current dominant position of Indian cricket than its skipper Virat Kohli.

Under the coaching of Ravi Shastri, who took the job after the 2017 Champions Trophy final loss from Anil Kumble, India have reached the 2019 World Cup semi-final, and registered two historic Test series triumphs in Australia – the second of which is what Monty Panesar asserts as the visitors staged a remarkable comeback to win the series even while losing players, including Kohli, one by one.

Monty Panesar outlines the brand of cricket and the attitude Shastri has instilled in the players which helped them overcome all challenges in Australia.

“If one analyses the performance of India in the past few months, you can see that it is more of Ravi Shastri’s team than Virat Kohli’s. At least that’s what I feel,” Monty Panesar told India Today.

“It is Ravi Shastri who has built a self-belief in this Indian cricket team. What they achieved in Australia after the infamous ‘36’ in Adelaide is quite a miracle. They won the series even though their charismatic captain Virat Kohli didn’t play the rest of the series, and India kept losing players to injury. It was Shastri who got the job done for India against Australia that too in their backyard,” he added.

India must play both Jadeja and Ashwin: Monty Panesar

Speaking about the upcoming final of the inaugural ICC WTC between Indian and New Zealand, Monty Panesar reckons Kohli should go with both Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin in the eleven.

The 39-year old underlines that both the all-rounder are in supreme form and revel in each other’s presence. Jadeja has become one of the premier all-rounders in the world – arguably the best – and Ashwin has been in terrific form, with both bat and ball, in the last couple of series against Australia and England.

“India must play both Jadeja and Ashwin. There is no one better than these two at present in the world. They bowl in partnership, understand each other’s game, and overall they are street-smart cricketers,” the former spinner stated.

The final is scheduled for June 18th in Southampton. It will be followed by a 5-Test series between India and England.

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