"What's this rubbish?" - R Sridhar on when Ravi Shastri was furious with Indian pacers
Ravi Shastri's coaching stint with Team India will be remembered for the incredible pace battery that they were able to assemble. This helped them compete away from home and even pull off some incredible wins.
The Indian team under Shastri's coaching and former captain Virat Kohli also beat Australia twice in their own den and are the current holders of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The 2018 tour of South Africa was really the start of them threatening to win each game with their bowling away from home.
In his book 'Coaching Beyond: My time with the Indian team', former Indian fielding coach R Sridhar has narrated an incident that happened after Day 1 of the first Test against South Africa in Cape Town. Bhuvneshwar Kumar had given the visitors an incredible start and at 12/3, it looked like the hosts would be bundled out cheaply.
However, the Proteas did get to 286 and this made Ravi Shastri furious. Here's what Sridhar wrote in his book about the way the head coach reacted to his bowlers:
"That evening, Ravi summoned the pace attack (Bhuvi, Shami, Bumrah and Hardik) and thundered, 'What's this rubbish? I have seen so much driving in the middle that I am sick of it. From this point on, whatever driving happens must be only on the road. No bloody half-volleys, get stuck into them.'"
Ravi Shastri had also opened up on the same incident
While speaking on the show 'Bold and Brave: The Shastri Way' on Star Sports, Ravi Shastri recalled the same incident. He pointed out how the Indian bowlers changed the line and length and didn't look back from there.
He stated:
"The next morning, we pulled the bowlers in and in no uncertain terms told them, 'Keep your driving license at home'. I said I don't want to see a ball pitched up under the nose. And after that, the bowling attack was different.
"We rolled over South Africa for 130 in the second innings. Then did reasonably well on a good strip at Centurion and they bowled out South Africa in Johannesburg twice."
Although India lost the series 2-1, their win in the Johannesburg Test on a spicy wicket remains one of the most famous victories in their Test history.