Former India captain and head coach Ravi Shastri has given a hard-worded message to the Australian team, asking them to stop being nice guys and kind and play hard-hitting cricket if they want to make a comeback into the ongoing four-Test series after losing the 1st match in Nagpur to India by an innings and 132 runs.
The no.1 ranked Test team in the world, Australia was bowled out for 177 and 91 in two innings as India posted 400 runs.
Ahead of the second Test of the series starting in Delhi on Friday, Shastri expects the Aussies to shed their timid behavior and come out all guns blazing, otherwise worries that the series outcome could be in the favor of the Indians by a landslide.
"I want to start off with a strong piece of advice for the Australian team. Save the English manners for the Ashes. What you need are good old Australian manners here in India to bounce back from the defeat in Nagpur.
I want to see them come out and be their aggressive selves in Delhi. To back their ability and play with intent. I was surprised by the lack of it, especially in that second innings, where they were rolled for 91. If you lose, go down throwing punches. Not in the timid, almost un-Australian, fashion that they surrendered against the Indian spinners at the VCA Stadium. But the punch has to be thrown immediately, and they need to hit India hard from the very start in Delhi. If Australia don't get at India right away, the possibility of a 3-0 or even a 4-0 series defeat looms large,” Shastri wrote in his column in the Sydney Morning Herald.
IND v AUS 2023: Travis Head included as Allan Border picks Australia’s XI for Delhi Test
Shastri encouraged the Australian team led by Pat Cummins to come hard at the Indian team and said that he should be aggressive at India to gain an advantage in Delhi Test.
He mentioned how once upon a time, the Australian cricket team was infamously known to be a notorious unit, getting under the skin of the opposition through various shenanigans; however, ever since the IPL, the friendships between India and Australian players have made them mellow.
"I would also ask the Aussies to leave their Indian Premier League buddies behind and keep them for later. It felt like there was a bit too much bonhomie on the field in Nagpur for my liking. I want to see that characteristic hard-hitting Aussie intent come to the fore in Delhi. I can say this with confidence: the Indians will be relentless, as they are always in India. This is as good a bowling attack as they've ever had, both in terms of the fast bowlers and the spinners. India have never had a spin trio where all three are all-rounders. It's not all lost for the Aussies though, and they need to tell themselves that. Look yourself in the mirror and realise that you're not as bad as what transpired on Saturday. It was one day, one session where you messed up," he said.
He added that Aussies found themselves in the same situation as India were after their 36 all-out in the first Test in Adelaide on the 2020-21 Tour of Australia. He also didn’t rule out the possibility of an Aussie comeback.
"It is rather like when the Indian team was bowled out for 36 at the Adelaide Oval in 2020. It was understandably one of the more challenging days for me as coach. The only difference, though, was that the Indian team had dominated the first two days of play in Adelaide before that incredible collapse. In Nagpur, Australia had few positives, except the sensational debut for young Todd Murphy," he said.
"Australia will have to bring their A+ game if they have to beat India, or even if they are to threaten India. It's not impossible, as we showed in Australia two years ago. To go from 36 all out in Adelaide to Boxing Day at the MCG, there's nothing more intimidating than that. But we prevailed, and beat them soundly at the G. So, it’s not impossible," highlighted Shastri.
The second Test begins in Delhi on February 17 with India leading the four-Test series 1-0.
