'I didn’t even have a sweater' - Ravi Shastri recalls his Test debut in Wellington, exactly 39 years ago

India is all set to lock horns with New Zealand in the first Test of the two-match series at the Basin Reserve in Wellington and for Head Coach Ravi Shastri, life will come a full circle. It was on this very day (February 21), 39 years ago that a 19-year-old skinny lad made his debut for the Indian cricket team to kickstart an 11-year-old journey that saw him play 80 Tests and 150 One-day Internationals and amass over 6000 runs and take close to more than 250 wickets.

The Indian coach went down memory lane on the eve of the first Test match in an exclusive interview to India No.3 Cheteshwar Pujara. “It was 39 years. They say what goes around comes around. Tomorrow, Same day same ground same team same city I made my Test match debut 39 years ago. Unreal,” Shastri tweeted.

Incidentally, Shastri wasn’t in the original squad for the 1981 Test series against New Zealand. The all-rounder, who was playing the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals in Kanpur was flown on SOS basis after Dilip Doshi was ruled out due to injury. According to the report, Shastri only got the news from the gatekeeper of the guest house where the Mumbai team was based.

“The late Bapu Nadkarni came to the airport to pick me up. The Indian team was at the high commission for their official. I went straight to the hotel room. There was no one there. So I crashed out. The next morning, Sunny lost the toss, we were put into the field. There you go, I was playing the game straight away,” Shastri told Cheteshwar Pujara in an interview on bcci.tv.

Ravi Shastri impressed in his debut game

India eventually lost the Test match by 62 runs but Shastri impressed with his all-round play- especially his left-arm off-spin on a seaming Wellington pitch. The all-rounder scalped three wickets- 3-54 & 3-9- in each innings and also displayed his grittiness with the bat (19) while batting at No.10 in the second innings.

“I think I was nervous, like anyone playing his first game. But I bowled tidily and I got the wicket of Jeremy Coney, which gave me confidence. Conditions were totally different when compared to wherever I have played because there were circling winds and it was a very, very cold day,” Shastri said.

Such was the circumstances post his ad-hoc call-up that Shastri revealed he didn’t even had a sweater and it was Poly Umrigar, who came to his rescue.

“I didn’t even have a sweater. I wore Poly Umrigar’s sweater. Poly gaga me a sweater just before I left, that came very hand,” he added. 31 years on, the Indian coach will hope that he ends up on the winning side, unlike the case when he made his debut.