'Virat Kohli worships Test cricket' - Ravi Shastri on India's red-ball domination

India secured a dominating win over New Zealand in the Mumbai Test to register their 14th consecutive series win at home. India’s former head coach Ravi Shastri thus heaped praises on the team for their performances. He also added that skipper Virat Kohli worships Test cricket and so does most of the team.

The duo of Kohli and Shastri took Indian cricket to greater heights in the red-ball format. The team won back-to-back series on Australian soil and then also dominated the proceedings against England earlier this year. They took a 2-1 lead in the Test series against the Joe Root-led side before the series was interrupted due to a Covid-19 outbreak in the Indian camp.

Team India has been blowing the trumpet of their repertoire in Test cricket for a long period now. The team has displayed some promising performances in home and away games as well. Shastri spoke about India’s domination in the longest format and also heaped praises on Kohli.

“I think if any team has been an ambassador for Test match over the last five years, it is this Indian cricket team. Virat worships Test match cricket, as do most of the team, which might surprise the world because of the amount of one-day cricket India plays, then IPL. If you ask anyone in the team, 99 percent of them would say they love Test match cricket. That’s why what India has done in the last five years – remain as the No. 1 team in the world at the end of every year,” Shastri told renowned author Jeffrey Archer on his podcast.

We have dominated the format for the last five years: Ravi Shastri

Shastri said that though India couldn’t win the World Test Championship finals, the team has been performing exceptionally well for the last five years now. He further asserted that the greatest legacy that this generation will leave behind is the way they have played the longest format.

“We may have lost the one-off WTC final against New Zealand – but otherwise We have dominated the format for the last five years. To win two series in Australia, to win the series that was taking place in England, to win everywhere around the world – white-ball and red-ball cricket, and to set a benchmark in red-ball cricket, the fast bowlers coming to the fore – unheard of from the Indian cricket team – it was remarkable.

For me the greatest legacy this generation and this lot of players will leave is the way they have played Test cricket and embraced it,” Shastri added.