Australia series win bigger than 1983 World Cup triumph: Ravi Shastri

Tags: India tour of Australia 2018-19, India, Australia, Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri

Published on: Jan 08, 2019

India coach compared India’s historic Test series win in Australia to the 1983 World Cup triumph as well as the 1985 World Championship win. India won the series 2-1 after the Sydney Test was drawn.

India coach compared India’s historic Test series win in Australia to the 1983 World Cup triumph as well as the 1985 World Championship win. India won the series 2-1 after the Sydney Test was drawn.

“I will tell you how satisfying it is for me. World Cup 1983, World Championship of Cricket 1985 – this is as big, or even bigger, because it is in the truest (Test) format of the game. It’s Test cricket, which is meant to be the toughest,” Shastri said at the post-match press conference.

Shastri was effusive in his praise of India captain Virat Kohli, and even saluted him. “Past is history, future is a mystery. We have won today after 71 years and I’d like to live in the present. And salute my captain for being the captain of the team that beat Australia for the first time in Australia in a series,” he added.

The India coach also took the opportunity to hit back at critics, including his former skipper Sunil Gavaskar, who has repeatedly questioned India’s team selection. “I said in Melbourne – I think I mentioned people taking pot shots and firing blanks. I wasn’t joking there, because I knew how hard this team had worked. When you fire from there, by the time it crosses the southern hemisphere, it’s blown away by the wind like a tracer bullet,” he said.

--By A Cricket Correspondent

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