Virat Kohli, Ravi Shastri know the perils of boasting

After skipper Virat Kohli slammed critics during the tour of South Africa, now Ravi Shastri continued in the same vein on the team’s return home.

The two got a lot of flak after losing the first two Tests and it is only fair of them to give it back with interest after the way team performed to win the third and last Test and in the 5-1 pasting they gave the Proteas in One-Day Internationals (ODI) and in winning the Twenty20 series 2-1.

While Kohli’s diatribe against the media came to a breaking point, Shastri like a good electronic media man used one-liners to make fun of critics without getting hypercritical.

As someone who has a long standing in international cricket first as a player and then as broadcaster he knows ups and downs are part of sport.

Both Shastri and Kohli bided their time for the right moment to strike back. Kohli copped a lot of criticism after the defeats in the first and second Test. He did not like the media arguing with him over the team winning on subcontinent pitches or not playing the same eleven in two successive Tests, disturbing even the winning combination. He shot back saying he does not pick the sides on the results and that he has no control over the preparation of pitches.

The India captain refused to soften even after the team fought back to win the third Test and then in the shorter formats. He would not take compliments from the media for the team’s success, winning eight of 12 matches across all formats on the tour, and his own exceptional batting.

Shastri went a step ahead of Kohli saying that in India people are happy when India is beaten. He was well prepared to take on the media. He demolished the critics with simple logic. When India win, the other side is not playing well or they are a weak team. The critics say they could not play their best eleven. For him a team is as good as the opponents allow it to be.

One has to agree with Shastri when he says the team won because they performed better, taking wickets. That’s true and the results reflect that.

Shastri, like Kohli, blasted all those who talk of pitches back in India and the ones on offer overseas. He would not complain, the teams have to play whatever be the nature of pitches. Shastri has a strong message for all those who crib about pitches in India, though in recent years very few tracks misbehaved. The pitches are as good as any the worldover. He is opposed to complaining about pitches: Never question the pitches because “I will say, ‘take a fu****g walk.’    

Pitches are the same for both the teams and as international sides they are prepared for getting pushed back on to the backfoot or following the seam playing in South Africa, England and Australia just as batsmen from those countries get stranded their feet tied facing the spin on slow Indian pitches.

It is not easy to perform for an Indian side in South Africa. Considering the past record, Kohli-Shastri team did exceptionally well. Even allowing for their injury problems, the Proteas had their bowling at full strength. India’s wrist spinners showed how quickly they could adapat to the pitches and the pacers enjoyed the conditions. They were admirable in shorter formats.

The Indians have no complaints about the pitches for Tests, either, their pacers Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah accounting for 47 of the 60 wickets in the three-match series. Eventually, it all boiled down to a couple of sessions in the first two Tests that left India lose when there were stages they looked like pulling them off.

Kohli and Shastri are cautious in talking about the next 15 months when they have to play England first and then Australia. While Kohli says the team always plays to win, Shastri thinks the team will better after the two series, whatever that may mean.

Both will not commit like some of their predecessors that they have their best chance of beating the two big guns. They know the perils of boasting.

(The writer is a veteran commentator and the views expressed are personal. He can be reached at sveturi@gmail.com)