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Follow UsOne key factor in Ravi Shastri’s Indian side was that they didn’t back away from a fight, and if anything, they gave it back to the opposition. That was what differentiated them from the other teams in their visit to Australia - the ability to put up a fight against the hosts.
It stemmed down to the entire setup, from skipper Virat Kohli to Rishabh Pant, who was playing his first Test series in Australia. Looking back, Shastri reckoned that the Indian players should not ‘hold back one bit’, which has augured well for them in the past.
"When I was playing, my philosophy was to give it back as good as you get. And it’s exactly what I would tell my players when I was coaching India in Australia. Do not hold back one bit," Shastri wrote in his column for CODE Sports.
"Do not take even one backward step. It then became the team’s philosophy and everyone from Virat Kohli to Rishabh Pant and every member of the squad was prepared to give it back to the Aussies."
While the series was largely controversial free till the Adelaide day-night Test, everything changed in the pink ball clash, where tempers flared up. After Mohammed Siraj dismissed Travis Head, the two went at each other in an ugly on-field spat, which even earned them a 20% match-fee reduction and one demerit point each.
But despite that, Shastri reckoned that he wouldn’t have expected anything else from a fast bowler and insists that temperament stays with him during the series.
"If anything, I wouldn’t have expected anything else from a fast bowler after he’d been hit for a six. Siraj was letting off some steam. That’s the fast bowler’s temperament. You want it to be like that," said Shastri.
India will next take on Australia at Gabba on December 14, a place where Rohit Sharma and co. had happy memories during their last tour down Under.
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