India, one of the best cricketing teams in the world, is always favorite no matter who they are playing. The depth on the Indian bench shows the superb nourishment of Indian cricket and cricketers from the younger age is simply phenomenal. If you do not believe this then we suggest you watch the highlights of the young Indian team breaking the Gabba fortress against Australia on their home soil.
The last few years were simply amazing for the Indian cricket team in terms of all-around cricket. However, they were not able to win any major international trophy under the captaincy of Virat Kohli and the coaching of Ravi Shastri but the world saw what India can achieve in the upcoming years.
India had a disappointing finish of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 as they failed to reach the semi-final stage of the tournament. But we believe that the loss against Pakistan was way more disappointing for team India. Their first-ever against Pakistan in any World Cup. With the tournament, the tenure of Ravi Shastri as the Indian coach also came to end. And Virat Kohli was officially stepped down from his T20I leadership role at the same time. Moreover, it led to his signing off from the test and the ODIs captaincy as well.
But as mentioned, the Indian team has achieved a lot under this duo. So, we thought this is the perfect time to acknowledge what all team India achieved in Kohli’s Shastri’s Era. Before you can even say Jack Robinson let’s jump right into it.
Ravi Shastri took up the Head Coach role of the Indian National Cricket team in July 2017 after India toured the West Indies. After the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 team India had no head coach till the conclusion of the ICC World Cup 2015. Prior to taking this role, Shastri was working as the Team Director for India. Under his directorship, India was able to reach back-to-back semi-finals in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and also in the ICC World T20 2016. But at that time also it was the major ICC trophy that was lacking in India’s trophy cabinet.
Fun Fact – Ravi Shastri was also the Cricket Manager of the Indian team during their tour of Bangladesh in 2007.
Shastri took over as the head coach after being the Team Director for almost two years was very energetic for Kohli and the team as all of them were very familiar with him and his working style. So, everyone in the cricketing world had great expectations from the team.
At the same time, Virat Kohli was in his early phases as the limited over’s captain of team India. But he was already the test captain for almost two years by that time and getting a knack for winning some crucial matches. Virat Kohli was already one of the greats with the bat for the Indian team and in his first ICC tournament as captain, India ended up runner’s up in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. Everyone knew the team can achieve some great things in the future after some great performance by the team in the tournament.
That’s why even though India didn’t win any international trophy during that period, they were still a majorly successful side in every international format they were playing. Winning ODIs and T20s became a habit and giving a tough competition to international sides at their home soil was quite common from team India at that time.
But I believe that apart from India’s dominant performance at home and away, the Kohli and Shastri’s partnership not only set a tough Indian team but also created a strong and fearless set of reserves that can easily handle the top hosts of the world.
Indian cricket’s major achievements in the Kohli-Shastri era
India has had more good days than bad with the Ravi Shastri-Virat Kohli’s combination at the helm of affairs. Let us have a look at some of their major achievements.
- Border Gavaskar Trophy Win (2018-19) (2020-21) – Under this duo we say India scripted history not once but twice and that too consecutively. With their first ever test series win against Australia, India became the first Asian team to beat Australia in a test series in their own home. Although Kohli was not around for the second time, the absence of a regular captain was filled by calm and composed Ajinkya Rahane and he did a commendable job as India defeated Australia to seal the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the second successive time.
- Team India also made it to the final of the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship under the captaincy of Kohli and counsel of Ravi Shastri. India beat every team on their way over the course of three years and made it to the finals.
- India started the ODI world cup 2019 as the favourites. And they played like one but it ended up in a heartbreak as they faced a loss against New Zealand and bow out of the tournament on a quite tough day.
- Under the leadership of Kohli and Shastri, India also won T20I series in New Zealand, England, Australia and South Africa.
- Team India also achieved whitewashing of Sri Lanka by 3-0 in 2017 for the very first time.
- India also wrecked the West Indies in a test series in the Caribbean for the first time.
- Apart from creating a hardcore bench team India also formed a potent pace bowling attack in all formats but it is still quite special in tests. The bowling unit shone in all conditions against all the great teams in the world and showed that they can also produce a great bowling unit.
- Under skipper Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri, the team India became a force to reckon in tests as they also remained at the top of the test rankings for 42 months from 2016-2020.
Endnotes
It is true that team India and the fans have seen some of the best days from the appointment of Shastri as the head coach and Virat Kohli as the captain of the team India. Unfortunately, those days are over and India is looking forward to moving ahead under Dravid and Sharma’s partnership. There is a lot to learn from the former duo. Apart from winning a major trophy, they have shown what all India can achieve and what it can become in the future. Moreover we hope the new era will bring something new to admire and hopefully a ICC trophy right next to team India’s name.