Alarm bells for Ravi Shastri, Virat Kohli and company

Hyderabad: “The scoreline reads 3-1, which means India have lost the series. What it doesn’t say is that India could have been 3-1 or 2-2.” That was Ravi Shastri, India’s head coach in his typical commentary style, ahead of the final game of the five-match Test series against England.

These words might soothe ears for a moment but in reality, there is nothing called ‘could have been’ in cricket. Either you win or lose. However, Test cricket provides an additional option of a draw. But, the harsh reality is that the World No. 1 Test side have finished the series 1-4.

Captain Kohli and Shastri’s talks and efforts to make this team the ‘best touring side’ of all time is no doubt a fine initiative for the future of Indian cricket but if the latter feels content with beating teams like Sri Lanka and West Indies (given their current forms), then there is definitely something wrong with the approach.

Shastri backed it though, when he said: “If you see in the last three years, we’ve won nine matches overseas and three series (twice in Lanka, once in West Indies). I can’t see any other team in the last 15-20 years who had that kind of run in such a short time. You’ve had some great players playing in those series.”

Irrespective of Shastri’s comments, the current scenario portrays a different picture. The English series too has thrown up a lot of rough areas to be fixed.