The Kohli-Shastri era ended on the high note, winning the last league game against Namibia . India beat Namibia by 9 wickets in the last match of the tournament. But the Kohli-Shastri duo will be unhappy with their performance in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021. India lost the first two league games against the arch rivals, Pakistan and the Kiwis.
The journey of Kohli-Shastri duo started in 2014 in Australia when MS Dhoni left the captaincy of the Indian team in between the test series. Kohli was given the new role of captain of the Indian test side. The Kohli-Shastri era has some bad days as well as some good days. The Kohli-Shastri era is nearly 7 years long.
Ravi Shastri became the Director of the Indian cricket in 2014 but was removed in 2016. And again was appointed as the Head Coach of the Indian cricket team in 2017 after the Champions Trophy loss against Pakistan in the finals.
Under the Kohli-Shastri duo ,Indian team had some golden time. For the first time, India defeated Australia in a test series in their own backyard in 2018. They became the first Asian team to do so. Not only in 2018, Indian team repeated the history in 2020-2021. Indian team won the test series for second successive time. Kohli was not present after the first game but Shastri guided the team to their second series win in Australia with the stand- in captain, Ajinkya Rahane.
Indian team made it to the final of the World Test Championship final in the inaugural edition with the guidance of Kohli-Shastri duo. However, the team lost the final by eight wickets. Kohli-Shastri duo calling the shots, India took a 2-1 lead in the five-match series against England earlier this year before the rubber was suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak in the Indian team camp.
Under the Kohli-Shastri duo, the team learnt how to win games away from home. The team showed the character and the required aggressive at home as well as in overseas series. The Kohli-Shastri duo took the Indian team to the No. 1 position from the 7th position in the test ranking. Indian team is having a great set of pace bowlers who are prepared under their guidance. The performance of the team overseas has improved over the years. No other has won games overseas more than Indian team.
But if we talk about the ICC events , the Kohli-Shastri duo failed to tick that box . They should have won alteast one ICC tournament in their era. The team performed brillantly in the league games but failed to deliver in the crucial knockout games.
The team lost the semi final game against New Zealand in the ICC Men’s World Cup 2019. They were again defeated by the same opponent in the WTC final in 2021. And in the 2021 ICC men’s T20 World Cup, the team failed to qualify for the knockouts. This has been very disappointing for the team as well as for the fans. Their had been many flaws in the decision making of the Kohli-Shastri duo. Sometimes, their had been wrong team combinations. The luck factors also doesn’t work for the team .
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The white ball or the limited over format was evenly balanced in the Kohli-Shastri era. The team won many series across globe in tough situations but lost many series at home. They lost twice against Australia at home in the limited over series. The duo failed to make the balance in the playing XI.
Their had been many conflicts regarding the appointment of the head coach and the captaincy in the white ball format. The players in the Kohli-Shastri era felt insecured sometimes and lost confidence in both coach and the captain. The duo failed to retain the magic of kul-cha. They both lost their place in the Indian line up.
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The Kohli-Shastri era also failed to find the quality spinners who could replace Ashwin-Jadeja pair in the future. There is a lack of quality spin in the Indian line up.
Overall, the Kohli-Shastri duo has done a phenomenal role in shaping the Indian cricket. The Kohli-Shastri era has provided many golden moments for the fans to cheer for the ages to come. They have felt a legacy behind for the future ones to follow. The Indian test cricket is in good hands and needs focus more on the shorter formats.
The fans wants to watch their team win at home as well as aboard. The Indian team needs to change their approach towards the white ball format. The team needs to find white ball specialists and needs to rotate the players as England does in order to keep everyone fresh for the big games and tournaments . This will keeep the player mentally and physically strong.
Team Cricketkeeda Sports wishes both of them a great journey ahead!!!!
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Edited By : Devansh Awasthi