Australia vs India 2018-19: Ravi Shastri hits back at Kerry O'Keefe for the controversial remarks
What's the story?
Team India coach, Ravi Shastri has come up with a hilarious reply to Australian commentator, Kerry O'Keefe's controversial remarks about Indian batsman Mayank Agarwal and the Ranji Trophy. While O'Keefe was bemused by Shastri's reply, legendary spinner Shane Warne couldn't stop laughing about the Indian coach's retort.
The Background
Australian commentator Kerry O'Keefe was lashed out throughout the social media for his controversial statement about debutant Mayank Agarwal and India's premier domestic tournament, the Ranji Trophy. While on air during the first day's play of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG. Kerry claimed that Agarwal might have scored his triple century against 'some canteen staff or waiters,' referring to the Indian domestic bowlers.
On being slammed by the Indian fans and several International stars across the social media, the Aussie apologized for his remarks. O'Keefe later clarified, "I was mentioning the runs Agarwal got in first-class cricket in India and there's been a reaction. There was no way I was demeaning the standard, it was tongue in cheek. There are lots of runs scored so apologies if anyone out there took offense".
The heart of the matter
But, it seems that Ravi Shastri is in no mood to spare his controversial statement. Shastri told Fox Cricket, "He [Mayank] has got a message for Kerry... 'when you do open your canteen, he wants to come and smell the coffee. He wants to compare it to the ones back in India...coffee here's better or the ones back home' ". The Indian coach, who heaped praise on Mayank for his fantastic knock on Test debut said, "Mayank Agarwal...let's not take it from him. We could have easily been three down for 80 and then it would have been a different ball game. He dug deep."
What's next?
While 'friendly' banters have been quite common in the ongoing Test series, Kerry O'Keefe's remark about Mayank Agarwal and the Ranji Trophy has become the major talking point of the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Virat Kohli's men might fancy their chances by securing a big win at the MCG so that they can confront the New Year's Test with a positive frame of mind.