This win will go down as one of the greatest comebacks in Indian and World Cricket - Ravi Shastri

India’s head coach Ravi Shastri is delighted after his team, led by Ajinkya Rahane, won the second Test in Melbourne against Australia and levelled the four-match series. After the Adelaide debacle to come back the way team India did, Shastri reckons this win will go down as one of the greatest in the history of Indian and world cricket.

The visitors missed their regular skipper Virat Kohli, ace pacer Mohammed Shami in addition to Ishant Sharma (ruled out) and Rohit Sharma (not available for first two Tests) in this game. But even then, they didn’t let Australia dominate proceedings for a long time and had someone or the other putting his hand in crunch situations. Umesh Yadav also sustained an injury in the second innings but the remaining four bowlers did the job for India.

While speaking to the media after the match, Ravi Shastri stated this is a gift from the team to its fans to enjoy the New Year’s eve. “It’s a great present from the team to millions of supporters to have a very happy new year. This will go down in the annals of Indian and world cricket as one of the greatest comebacks. From being 36 all out to coming back in three days, the boys showed great composure,” he said.

Ravi Shastri lauds Siraj and Gill

India handed a debut to Shubman Gill and Mohammed Siraj in this Test and both the players stepped up showing great courage in testing conditions. While Gill scored 80 runs in the game opening the innings, Siraj perfectly played the role of a third role picking five wickets. Ravi Shastri praised both of them for showing superb character in their first game.

He lauded Siraj, especially for steaming in and being accurate right through on the fourth morning when Australia’s lower-order was keeping India at bay. “That’s the brand of cricket we’ve been playing for 3-4 years. The 2 debutants showed great maturity and discipline. Today Siraj’s effort was outstanding. The maturity he showed for someone playing his first Test was outstanding,” the India coach further added.