'He tore the sheet into four pieces' - R Sridhar recalls when Ravi Shastri lashed out at officials in Australia

The year 2020 was one of the toughest times for everyone across the globe as the COVID-19 was at its peak. Every player had to go through quarantine process and many restrictions when the pandemic ran rampant. Meanwhile, former Indian fielding coach R Sridhar has revealed one such incident from that time.

Sridhar opened up about the time when India visited Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2020–21, when Ravi Shastri was the head coach of India. He stated that a directive laid out by the officials regarding COVID did not sit well with Shastri.

Sridhar told that the Indian team was promised that they would be treated like Australian citizens once they completed their 14-day isolation period. However, they were issued directives even after completing their isolation period.

"Having patiently listened to this monologue, Ravi got up from his seat in the front row, took the sheet from Bier, tore it into four pieces, and said, 'Howard, cut this and sit down. We were told that once these 14 days were over, we'd have the same rights as the Australian citizens. As you are dishing out this nonsense, the BCCI is talking to the CA. Do not hand over this piece of paper to any of my players. Don't board any other bus to make this announcement. I am not going to be a prisoner in my own room any more, not when life is going on as normal in Sydney,'" Sridhar wrote in his book ‘Coaching Beyond’.

Meanwhile, with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy ongoing in India, the hosts dominated the first match of the series in Nagpur, as they defeated the Aussies by an innings and 132 runs. Skipper Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel were the stars for India. Meanwhile, both the sides will playing the second Test of the four-match series in Delhi from February 17.