Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Former India head coach Ravi Shastri believes the Rohit Sharma-led side was justified in celebrating on avoiding the follow-on during the rain-hit third Test against Australia in Brisbane, which led to the five-match series being locked at 1-1.
On Day Four of the match, Akash Deep sliced a Pat Cummins delivery over the gully for a boundary, which helped India avoid the follow-on, leading to jubilant celebrations in the dressing room by captain Rohit Sharma, head coach Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli.
While many in the Australian camp were surprised by it, Shastri felt there was nothing bad about it. “You should celebrate. It required a lot of character from the last pair with 35-36 runs needed. That celebration showed they knew the importance of that effort within the dressing room in the context of the series.”
“It’s one thing following-on, it’s one thing then again being 2-3 down as opposed to, you going ahead and rattling the Australian top-order. It is fully justified,” said Shastri on the ICC Review show.
Talking about the scenes in Brisbane, Shastri recalled the 89-run partnership between Bumrah and Mohammed Shami at the Lord’s during the 2021 series against England, a match which India eventually won. He also highlighted the importance of lower-order bailing India out of tough situations.
“It reminded me of the celebration, in COVID times when Jasprit and Mohammed Shami were involved in a partnership at the Lord’s, which turned the game on its head. England were odds-on favourites on the final day to win the Test. And that partnership, I think of about 80 or 90, suddenly turned the game on its head, and by the end of the day, India had won the Test match.”
