Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has issued a hard-hitting advice to Australia after visitor's hammering at the hands of Rohit Sharma's brigade in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy's series opener in Nagpur. Pat Cummins-led side were thrashed by an innings and 132 runs as the entire Australian side was bundled out for a paltry 91 in the second innings.
Ahead of the second Test between India and Australia, the former India star all-rounder expects the visitors to come out of their shell and put up a show in Delhi in order to stay alive in the four-match Test series and avoid 3-0 or 4-0 thrashing in the all-important series.
"I want to start off with a strong piece of advice for the Australian team. Save the English manners for the Ashes. What you need are good old Australian manners here in India to bounce back from the defeat in Nagpur," Shastri wrote in his column in the Sydney Morning Herald.
"I want to see them come out and be their aggressive selves in Delhi. To back their ability and play with intent. I was surprised by the lack of it, especially in that second innings, where they were rolled for 91. If you lose, go down throwing punches. Not in the timid, almost un-Australian, fashion that they surrendered against the Indian spinners at the VCA Stadium. But the punch has to be thrown immediately, and they need to hit India hard from the very start in Delhi. If Australia don't get at India right away, the possibility of a 3-0 or even a 4-0 series defeat looms large," he further.
Australia, who are known for their aggressive approach, sledging, verbal spat in the field, didn't show any of these traits in the series opener. Shastri also highlighted that Indian Premier League (IPL) has narrowed the bridge between Indians and overseas players, there has been a noticeable shift in the approach of the Australians.
"I would also ask the Aussies to leave their Indian Premier League buddies behind and keep them for later. It felt like there was a bit too much bonhomie on the field in Nagpur for my liking. I want to see that characteristic hard-hitting Aussie intent come to the fore in Delhi. I can say this with confidence: the Indians will be relentless, as they are always in India. This is as good a bowling attack as they've ever had, both in terms of the fast bowlers and the spinners. India have never had a spin trio where all three are all-rounders. It's not all lost for the Aussies though, and they need to tell themselves that. Look yourself in the mirror and realise that you're not as bad as what transpired on Saturday. It was one day, one session where you messed up," he said.
Meanwhile, India will look to seal the series against Australia in order to see themselves in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-2023 final.
Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023 schedule:
2nd Test at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi - February 17-21
3rd Test at Holkar Stadium, Indore, March 1-5
4th Test at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad - March 9-13
India’s squad for the first two Tests vs Australia: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav.
Australia Test squad for India tour: Pat Cummins (capt), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.
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