Ravi Shastri dismisses ghosts of Adelaide ahead of second Test

The former India head coach recalls how the team dealt with the infamous 36 all out the last time India played a Test in Adelaide.
When India last played a Test match against Australia in Adelaide, the visitors were bundled out for 36 – their lowest score in Test history.

Such was the ignominy of that total that, despite India going into the second Test on Friday on the back of a buoyant 295-run win in Perth, there is talk of the ghosts of that collapse preying on the minds of the visitors.

Ravi Shastri, India’s head coach during that ultimately triumphant tour, conceded that it would linger on the back of the minds of the Indians, but didn’t think it would affect the momentum gained from that dominant Perth win.

“I don't think it will play any role but it should be at the back of their mind because you know things happen very quickly with a pink ball,” Shastri told The ICC Review.

“You realise that in a session of play if things don't go your way and the bowling is good, things can happen rapidly.

“Now the fact that they are one up should put them in a really great frame of mind going ahead in this Test match because I think it's a massive opportunity for India to tighten the screws further. The pressure will be on Australia.”

The then India head coach pointed out that a defeat in their previous pink-ball outing against Australia had an element of freak attached to it.

“See, what we did after that 36 was - like I said at that time - that I'd never seen, and I said it in the dressing room, I'd never seen so much of playing and nicking as opposed to playing and missing,” Shastri said.

“And I'd watched cricket for about 40 years. And to be honest, that was a session where hardly any player played and missed. If he did anything, he got a nick. So it was not beating the bat. You know, the bowlers’ [being] unlucky … it was just the batsmen being unlucky on that day.”

Despite that nightmare in Adelaide, India recovered. They pulled one back in Melbourne to draw level in the series, followed it up with a plucky draw in Sydney, and finally, despite having an injury ravaged-side, pulled off a sensational heist in Brisbane to secure a historic series victory.

“In my mind, it was very clear you can't do worse than that [Adelaide],” he said.

“You'll have a day when the luck is in your favour and you can bounce back. And that's exactly what happened.

“Sometimes you don't overthink when something as drastic as that happens. You don't want a knee-jerk reaction taking place where you just lose the plot.

“Sometimes calmness in situations like that produce the best results.”