Indian cricket team of 1985 will give any Indian side a run for its money, says Ravi Shastri
Indian cricket team coach Ravi Shastri termed the Indian side that won the 1985 Benson & Hedges World Championship of Cricket as the best outfit he has been a part of. In fact, the current Indian cricket team coach even termed that bunch of cricketers as one capable of giving any Indian side, across generations, a run for their money.
Speaking to Rajdeep Sardesai, Ravi Shastri opened up on how that team had most bases covered and how they handled the pressure in 1985, especially considering the Indian cricket team arrived at that tournament as world champions.
“It was as big as it could get. We [the Indian cricket team] had won the 1983 World Cup also. People thought it was a one-off but in 1985, people expected us to win. The pressure was on the Indian cricket team and the boys rose to the challenge,” he said.
Indian cricket team rose to the occasion in 1985
He also talked about the Indian cricket team’s strength to overcome all odds, despite other teams looking to take down the 1983 world champions.
“Life starts when you’re known quantity. People are looking out for you and you are suddenly a target. After 1983, the Indian cricket team played some of its greatest white-ball cricket. It is a period you don’t get very often. We had a unit that it could play in all conditions and I would say that the 1985 Indian cricket team was stronger than the team that won the 1983 World Cup,” Ravi Shastri added.
To put things into further perspective, the current Indian cricket team head coach explicitly stated that the side which won the World Championship of Cricket in 1985 would cause problems to any Indian cricket team that has ever taken to the field.
“The 1985 team will give any team a run for their money, including the current Virat Kohli-led side. We had Sunil Gavaskar, Jimmy Amarnath, Dilip Vengsarkar, Kris Srikkanth and Kapil Dev. More importantly, we had flexibility in our side. Mohammad Azharuddin was batting at 3 and Gavaskar was batting lower down the order. With him, Jimmy and Kapil down the order, other teams could not take their eye off the ball, even if we were 20-3. Also, we had a good blend of youth and experience,” he elaborated.
During the 1985 Benson & Hedges World Championship of Cricket, not many cricketers distinguished themselves as much as Ravi Shastri, who ended up winning the Player of the Series award.
In fact, that triumph by the Indian cricket team led billions of Indians to dream about the country as a cricketing superpower and one that was capable of holding its own, even in the most adverse of circumstances.
Thus, it isn’t unsurprising that current Indian cricket team coach Ravi Shastri feels that that side might never be replicated.