Ravi Shastri Urges Indian Cricket Team To Start Strong In Border-Gavaskar Trophy Against Australia

Ravi Shastri, former head coach of India, has called on the Indian cricket team to make a strong start in their Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. This comes after their unexpected 3-0 defeat at home to New Zealand, which ended a 12-year unbeaten streak in Test matches on home soil.

The loss to New Zealand has impacted India's position in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) standings. With a place in the WTC Final at stake, Shastri stresses that performing well in the first two Tests against Australia is vital for India's prospects.

India's tour of Australia kicks off with the first Test in Perth on November 22. Shastri, who led India to historic Test series victories in Australia during 2018-19 and 2020-21, highlighted the need to draw inspiration from those achievements. "Think about the positives. Think about what you did in Australia last time around and take it ahead from there. Put what happened behind you," Shastri advised.

Reflecting on past successes, Shastri noted India's strong start during their 2018-19 series when they won the opening Test in Adelaide by 31 runs, largely due to Cheteshwar Pujara's crucial century. "They would be hurting and they'd like to get back on track ASAP," he remarked.

Shastri also emphasized the role of head coach Gautam Gambhir and his team in ensuring players remain mentally prepared. "The most important thing will be to ensure that they start off well; they keep the players in a good state of mind. That will be the most important thing for the coach," he stated.

With India needing four wins out of five Tests in Australia to secure a spot in the WTC Final, Shastri believes that batting could be decisive. "Some of the tracks in Australia when you get in are probably the best to bat," he said. "It will be totally different conditions, and they should capitalize on that."

"India will be smarting from that defeat in that series against New Zealand because they were caught unawares," Shastri mentioned during The ICC Review. "They were a little complacent and they paid the price for it. But having said that, it's a very proud team, this Indian team. The best way to bounce back is to start another series in a good manner. So the first two Test matches become extremely crucial."