Former India head coach Ravi Shastri opened up on the lowest point in his coaching stint which came on the Australia tour. India had started the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21 with a humiliating loss at the Adelaide Oval.
India had taken a lead of 53 runs in the first innings after bowling out Australia on 191, after their first innings score of 244. But the hosts fought back strongly and bundled out Virat Kohli and co. on a score of 36.
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It was India's lowest score in Test cricket and Shastri revealed the whole team was in shock for days and couldn't believe what happened. "See, the coach is in the firing line; there is no choice. That is the quirk of the job. You have to be ready from day one. I knew there would be no escape routes. The 36 all out was the lowest point.
"We had nine wickets in hand [overnight] and then we were bundled out for 36. All that had to be done was the score to 80-odd more runs [to be in the game]. We were all numb. We were in a state of shock for days. How could that have happened?," Shastri told The Week in an interview.
Josh Hazlewood had bagged 5 wickets, and Pat Cummins picked 4 wickets in the innings, while India's tailender Mohammad Shami was retired hurt. No India batter had managed to score in double figures and Mayank Agarwal was the top scorer with only 9 runs.
"It was not just me. I would be the first to put my hand up and say I was the one responsible, take the brickbats; there is no place to hide. I told the boys to focus on what they could do. The boys were unbelievable. One month after that 36 all out, on January 19, we had won the series. I am still thinking, how did that happen? I promise, as long as I live, people will talk about that series win," added Shastri.
India recovered from the embarrassing defeat and went on to win the four-match Test series by 2-1. They even breached the fortress of The Gabba in the final Test match to create history.
(With the inputs from The Week)
