India head coach Ravi Shastri hit back as Australia commentator Kerry O’Keefe for his unsavoury comments against opener Mayank Agarwal during the first day of the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

O’Keefe — who was commentating for the official broadcasters — had taken a dig at debutant Agarwal by saying that he scored a triple century against Railways ‘canteen staff’ in the Ranji Trophy.

“Apparently, he (Mayank Agarwal) got a triple (ton) against the railways canteen staff,” O’Keefe said on-air. Agarwal had hit a scintillating triple century (304*) against Maharashtra while playing for Karnataka at the Maharashtra Cricket Association stadium in Pune in the 2017 edition of the Ranji Trophy.

After the completion of day two of the Test, Shastri was called by the official broadcasters for an interview with respect to India’s position in the MCG Test and that is when the India coach ‘delivered’ a message to O’Keefe from Agarwal.

“Let’s not take it from (Mayank Agarwal). India could have easily been three down for 80 and it would have been a different ball game,” Shastri told Fox Sports.

“He dug deep and he’s got a message for Kerry – when you do open your canteen, he wants to come and smell the coffee. And he wants to compare it to the ones back home in India. Is the coffee better here in your canteen, or the one back home?”

Legendary Australia spinner Shane Warne, who was seated on the right of O’Keefe, burst in laughter upon hearing Shastri’s words.

O’Keefe had already apologised for his remarks after he received heavy backlash from fans on social media.

Also Read: AUS commentator apologises after taking a jibe at Agarwal

“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 offence,” O’Keefe was quoted as saying by news.com.au.

First Published: Dec 28, 2018 09:24 IST