‘I don’t think any team did that’ – Ravi Shastri revels in India’s back-to-back Test series wins in Australia

(Source – Ravi Shastri /X)

Former India cricketer and head coach Ravi Shastri recently came forward and talked about India’s back-to-back Test series wins in Australia in 2018/19 and 2020/21; he even compared it to beating the West Indies in the 1980s, which was their prime.

It is worth noting that before 2018/19, India had never defeated Australia in their backyard in a Test series. Shastri coached team India on both occasions, as they put in an exceptional performance across the two series.

“People talk about World Cups, but if you go and ask people who follow the game all around the world, they will always think of those [2018-19 and 2020-21] series in Australia. How many teams have gone to Australia and beaten them [in a series]? It’s just like teams going to the West Indies and beating them in the 1980s. I don’t think any team did that,” Shastri told Mid Day.

“When you go there and win back-to-back series, you capture the imagination of people. Every cricketer knows that a series in Australia is one of the toughest. Beating them in their backyard takes a special effort,” he added.

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Those two wins in Australia are 24-carat: Shastri

Furthermore, Ravi Shastri compared the two Border-Gavaskar Trophy wins to the personal accolades that he has collected throughout his playing career. He opined that despite being a part of a World Cup-winning squad in 1983, he ranks the two BGT wins higher.

“It [Border-Gavaskar] might not be the World Cup trophy but it’s the biggest in my career. I have been part of a World Cup-winning team [1983], and a World Championship of Cricket-winning side [1985]. I have called World Cup games, but those two wins in Australia are 24-carat,” said Shastri.

India is now gearing up for the latest edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The upcoming series is set to begin in Perth on November 22.