Former cricketers and experts hit back at Ravi Shastri after 4-1 series defeat in England

The Indian team management especially coach Ravi Shastri was quite upbeat ahead of the tour. Their win in the last Test match on the tour of South Africa had really pumped up their confidence. Shastri made all sorts of claims and it was all pleasant on the ears of the Indian fans but at the end of the Test series, they lost it by a daunting margin of 4-1. His talks proved to be fluff and thus the head coach is under fire from the experts.

Team India, the No.1 ranked side in the format lost 10 points on the rankings for the drubbing they suffered. Shastri had before the tour stated that this was by far the best bowling line-up India had travelled to England with, the bowlers did prove him right with a stunning effort. However, mid-way through the tour the former Indian all-rounder further claimed that this is the best Indian team in the last 15 years and that has certainly backfired on him.

Former Indian captains react:

Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, who was one of the three men who decided to appoint Shastri as the coach said that the claims were “immature.”

Sunil Gavaskar who was commentating during the series said that the Indian teams of the past in 1980s had won Test series in England as well as West Indies which was a huge challenge then. Apart from that Rahul Dravid’s team in 2007 also won the Test series in England.

Shastri had also proclaimed that this team wants to travel overseas and they don’t just want to play at home and win but earn the tag of being the best travellers.

“The best travelling teams are made by performances on the ground and not by sitting in the dressing room and talking about it,” former Indian opener Virender Sehwag said in a way answering Shastri.

His former commentary made Harsha Bhogle thinks the Indian team failed to convert the moments they had and that has resulted in two overseas disappointments.

“India had their moments but the scorecards say 4-1 and India weren’t as good as they should have been,” Bhogle expressed. “This is two overseas disappointments in a row now.”

The immediate challenge at hand for Shastri is the Asia Cup, where the Indian team is in as defending champions. Next they travel to Australia towards the end of the year, though the Aussies look bleak without Steve Smith and David Warner, their prowess at home cannot be undermined.

For all the latest cricket news and other updates follow CricTracker.