Ravi Shastri admits the team was below par in the 2nd and 3rd ODIs

Team India’s head coach Ravi Shastri finds himself in torrid situations when the team tours abroad. But at home, he is in a comfortable zone as they continue to bulldoze opponents series after series. The latest in the list is Windies who lost the five-match ODI series 1-3 after levelling things with a win in the third game. According to the former India all-rounder, sometimes, a wake-up call is necessary for a team to produce its best.

India started off the five-match ODI series well with a dominant 8-wicket victory in the first match in Guwahati but then saw a slip in their performance in the second and third games in Vizag and Pune, respectively. While they managed to tie the Vizag ODI after Windies dominated the proceedings, they suffered a 43-run loss in the next game in Pune. The scoreline suddenly read 1-1 against a team which many thought stood no chance against the formidable hosts.

But Virat Kohli’s men came back very strong in the final two games, giving the visitors virtually no scope. While Rohit Sharma’s 162 blew them away in the fourth match in Mumbai with the Windies losing the match by a record 224 runs, they were all out for 104 in the fifth and final game in Trivandrum with India wrapping up the game inside 15 overs with 9 wickets in hand.

Shastri praises Windies effort

“We are back on track. I thought we were below par in the field in the second and third ODI. We could have done much better. Sometimes you need a wake-up call and we were at our best in the last two ODIs,” Shastri said after the fifth match. He, however, spoke highly about the touring side, calling it a “promising unit”. He said the Windies have exceptional players who, with exposure, will test some of the big teams.

He was particularly impressed with Ambati Rayudu who he said handled the pressure of comeback well in the series. Rayudu was the third Indian batsman to hit a hundred in the series after Kohli and Rohit. On Khaleel Ahmed, the youngster who played his first bilateral series, Shastri said the left-arm bowler has the variation and aggression but will need to add more speed to become effective.

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