• Thursday, March 28, 2024

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Kohli-Shastri era concludes: India’s high points

Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)

By: Shubham Ghosh

INDIA’S final fixture at the T20 World Cup 2021 against Namibia on Monday (8) saw the conclusion of the partnership of captain Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri. While the former stepped down as the national skipper in the T20 format, the latter’s stint with the national team concluded and he will now be replaced by former India captain Rahul Dravid.

Kohli and Shastri got together for the first time in 2014 for a Test match in Adelaide Down Under after the then captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni missed the game due to injury. Dhoni returned to lead the side in the next two games in Brisbane and Melbourne but then quit midway, paving the way for Kohli to become a full-time Test skipper and he led the side in Sydney.

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Shastri became the director of the Indian cricket team in 2014 for eight months — from India’s tour of England till the 2015 World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand.

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He was removed in 2016 but in July 2017, he was re-appointed as the head coach of the Indian team after Anil Kumble quit, reuniting with Kohli.

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Although the Kohli-Shastri duo failed to win India an ICC title, the combination that lasted nearly seven years saw the Asian powerhouse registering a number of memorable victories.

Here are some of the high points that India touched in times of Kohli and Shastri:

  • Winning a Test series in Australia (2018-19): The Kohli-Shastri partnership guided India to their first-ever series win in Tests in Australia, beating the Kangaroos 2-1. The feat was repeated in 2020-21 although Kohli did not play in the Tests that India won in that series as he was on a paternal leave. Ajinkya Rahane had led India to the series victory.
  • Reaching the World Test Championship final (2021): India dominated the inaugural World Test Championship by remaining among the top two in the points table to make the final but were hammered by New Zealand by eight wickets in the final played in England.
  • Reaching the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup: India were the best team in the group stages of the 2019 edition of the 50-over World Cup which was played in the UK and ended unbeaten in the points table. But Kohli’s men faced a heart-breaking defeat in the semi-final against New Zealand by 18 runs to crash out.
  • Leading England in away Test series: Under Kohli and Shastri, India produced their best performance in England in Tests in a while. They were leading 2-1 in a five-match series before the series was suspended due to Covid-19 outbreak in the Indian camp.
  • Under Kohli and Shastri, India have won T20 series in South Africa, New Zealand, England and Australia.
  • India have whitewashed Sri Lanka and the West Indies in Test series in their den, something they did for the first time in the Kohli-Shastri era.
  • India, who turned a potent bowling power under Kohli and Shastri, remained No.1 in Test cricket for 42 months between 2016 and 2020.

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