5 things India gained from the Ravi Shastri era

#5 A reinvigorated test team

The Indian test team made rapid strides under Ravi Shastri

Going into the 2014 series for the Pataudi Trophy, India were on an ignominious streak. They hadn’t won an overseas test since June 2011 although coming agonisingly close on a couple of occasions in South Africa and New Zealand. However, they surprised the cricketing world by taking an unexpected 1-0 lead in the series when they beat England in the 2nd test at Lord’s.

It seemed as if the test team was finally headed north. This victory though turned out to be a false dawn as the Indian team succumbed to a rampant England side in the next 3 tests that followed as the Englishmen won the 5-match series 3-1.

In a bid to boost the flagging morales of the Indian team, the BCCI roped in one of its most flamboyant ex-cricketers-Ravi Shastri. The impact was instant as the Men in Blue defeated England 3-1 in the subsequent ODI series.

After a couple of ODI series at home, the Indian team then flew to Australia to face their biggest test with Shastri at the helm. Though India lost the series 2-0, they fought really hard against a relatively experienced Australian team and gave them a real scare on a few occasions. The talking points from the series were MS Dhoni’s retirement from tests and the emergence of Virat Kohli as a leader, one who led from the front.

In an interview after the Australia series was lost, a bullish Ravi Shastri said, “Give this team 12 months, they’ll be back in the top two”. Just over a year later, the Indian team director made good on his promise. After the Australia series, India registered a historic 2-1 series win over Sri Lanka in August. A few months down the line, they made South Africa taste humble pie as they defeated them 3-0.

The way the Indian team played, it was very evident that Shastri’s meticulous planning had been involved in the transformation of the team. He had clearly identified the players he would have in his test team.

Many of these players were kept away from the distraction of white ball cricket. In the long run, it served the Indian team a great purpose as a clear core was identified around which the test team was resurrected.