"Don't think it will play any role" - Ravi Shastri buries ghosts of 36 all out ahead of 2nd BGT 2024-25 Test in Adelaide
Former Team India head coach Ravi Shastri has played down the events of the last day-night Test against Australia impacting the Men in Blue when they face the same team at the venue. However, Shastri warned that India must be wary as things can change quickly with the pink ball.
The 2020 Adelaide Test between Australia and India saw the visitors get bundled out for 36 on Day 3 and lose the match within a session despite holding a 50-plus lead. Josh Hazlewood inspired India's collapse with a fifer, while Pat Cummins snared four scalps.
On the latest episode of the ICC Review, Shastri reckons Australia will be more under pressure in Adelaide, given the tourists are 1-0 up in the series.
"I don't think it will play any role but it should be at the back of their mind because you know things happen very quickly with a pink ball. You realize that in a session of play, if things don't go your way and the bowling is good, things can happen rapidly. Now the fact that they are one up should put them in a really great frame of mind going ahead in this Test match because I think it's a massive opportunity for India to tighten the screws further. The pressure will be on Australia," he said.
Although the Aussies have won all their pink-ball Tests in Adelaide, their record could be under threat on this occasion, mainly due to their batting woes. In the first Test in Perth, Australia managed only 104 in reply to Team India's first-innings total of 150 and eventually lost by 295 runs.
"I'd never seen so much of playing and nicking as opposed to playing and missing" - Ravi Shastri
Ravi Shastri, who was the coach of the national team, felt the batters were far too unlucky at the time. The 62-year-old added in the same interaction:
"See, what we did after that 36 was - like I said at that time - that I'd never seen, and I said it in the dressing room, I'd never seen so much of playing and nicking as opposed to playing and missing. And I'd watched cricket for about 40 years. And to be honest, that was a session where hardly any player played and missed. If he did anything, he got a nick. So it was not beating the bat. You know, the bowlers’ [being] unlucky … it was just the batsmen being unlucky on that day."
The defeat at the Optus Stadium was also Australia's first at the venue.