'Ravi was starting to lose it' - R Sridhar narrates an incident of Shardul Thakur disobeying Ravi Shastri's order during Australia Tests

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is one of the most anticipated Test series in all of cricket. Over the years, the series has given fans many memorable moments. The previous version of the series is arguably the most memorable of all as from the 36-all-out episode to Team India’s historic win at the Gabba, the series between India and Australia had it all.

While the win at Gabba remains the most talked about match of the 2020–2021 series, the heroics of Ravichandran Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari in the third Test cannot not be brushed aside. Both the injured Ashwin and Vihari battled against a mighty Australia to get an epic draw at the SCG.

In his book "Coaching Beyond," India's former fielding coach R Sridhar stated that then-coach Ravi Shastri decided that Ashwin would face Nathan Lyon and Vihari would face Australia's pace attack.The plan was working perfectly until both players decided to take a single, which put a dent in the flow of things. During the drinks break, Shastri decided to send out Shardul Thakur to remind the batters to stick to the plan.

Shardul Thakur lied about conveying the message during the drinks break

"After having stuck to their respective ends of the bargain, for some strange reason, they took a single, which exposed Vihari to Lyon and Ashwin to the fast men. A couple of singles later, the situation was unaltered, and Ravi was starting to lose his shirt," Sridhar wrote.

"He summoned substitute Shardul Thakur and told him, 'Listen to me very carefully, and repeat this to them: No matter what happens, Vihari will handle the fast bowlers, and Ashwin will play Lyon. No singles; no change of ends, period. Got it?' Shardul smiled coyly and said, 'Yes, sir', and charged to the middle with a bottle of water for Ashwin," he added.

After coming back from the middle, Thakur reportedly lied about conveying Shastri’s message to Ashwin and Vihari. Instead of telling them to stick to the plan and not take singles, Thakur said, "They are saying many things, but you guys don't worry. You are batting well, just continue doing the same things."

In his book, Sridhar goes on to say that in the moment, Thakur did the right thing and said what the two batters wanted to hear. Ashwin and Vihari then went on to play for 259 balls, which ultimately resulted in an epic draw.