Virat Kohli and the Indian cricket team were thoroughly deflated in the aftermath of the Pink Ball Test in Adelaide. The Indian cricket team was shot out for a woeful 36 which was an 88-year low as Australia romped home to a 0-1 lead in the four-Test series. To make matters worse for the Indian cricket team, Mohammed Shami was out of the tour injured with a fractured arm and Virat Kohli was going to be on paternity leave as he awaited the birth of his child. Before leaving for India, Virat Kohli organised a midnight meeting with Ajinkya Rahane and the rest of the coaching staff as India tried to stage a redemption.
The revelations were made when R Sridhar, the fielding coach of the Indian cricket team, had an interaction with R Ashwin on his Youtube channel. Speaking about the meeting, Sridhar said, "It was midnight, around 12.30 am, the night we lost the Adelaide Test. Virat Kohli messaged me: 'What are you doing?' I was shocked. I thought 'why is he messaging at this time?' I told him 'head coach (Ravi Shastri), myself, Bharat Arun and Vikram Rathour are sitting together. He said, 'I'll also join you'. I said, 'no problem, come over.' He came there and all of us started discussing. That's where 'Mission Melbourne' began. Shastri made a point there: 'This 36, wear it like a badge! This 36 is what will make this team great'," R Sridhar said.
Mission of redemption begins
R Sridhar revealed that Virat Kohli called up Ajinkya Rahane the next morning and they had a fruitful discussion as to how India should recover from the loss in Adelaide. In order to make the mood light, the coaching staff organised some games like dumb charades. The coaching staff also did not want the players to indulge in intense practice regularly. With the negativity dispelled, Ravi Shastri made an important decision to change the squad composition slightly.
"Shastri wanted to have more left-handers. He felt because of the presence of only right-handers, the Australians kept bowling at that one spot, so if we bring in a left-hander, their lines may vary, and it may work for us tactically. So, most of the decisions were taken there and it was decided that we'll go in with five of our best bowlers," Sridhar said.