Published 12:46 IST, January 20th 2021
Rishabh Pant, Ajinkya Rahane get cheered on during Ravi Shastri's dressing room speech
BCCI posted a video where Indian head coach Ravi Shastri was seen giving a heartfelt speech praising Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill among others.
- SportFit
- 3 min read
The Indian cricket team created history on Tuesday by defeating Australia in their own den to clinch the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2-1. The victory became all the more memorable because the visitors won the crucial series-decider at the Gabba, a venue where Australia hadn't lost a Test match in 32 years. Remarkably, India emerged victorious and defeated a full-strength Australian side in the absence of their seasoned players.
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Ravi Shastri lauds Indian team and support staff in heartfelt speech after win at Gabba
A few hours after the momentous win, the BCCI uploaded a video where Indian head coach Ravi Shastri was seen giving a heartfelt speech. In the video, Shastri is seen in the dressing room along with the players and the support staff. The Indian coach started off the speech by praising young opener Shubman Gill whose brilliant counter-attacking 91 laid the foundation for India that was required to chase a target of 328 in the fourth innings.
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Subsequently, Shastri heaped praise on Cheteshwar Pujara for his knock of 56 off 211 balls and called him a 'true warrior' for continuing to play despite copping several blows to his body. The Indian veteran then lauded Rishabh Pant for his unbeaten 89 which helped India chase the target. The southpaw was the last of the recognised batsmen who ensured that India got over the line comfortably. Shastri quipped that the dynamic batsman gave a heart attack to many Indian fans with his kind of batting. Notably, all the other members were hooting and whistling the loudest while Pant was being praised by Shastri.
Shastri also commended stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane for leading the side with panache after the Adelaide debacle, helping the team bounce back and controlling things in the middle flawlessly. The former all-rounder also acknowledged the invaluable contributions of debutants T. Natarajan, Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur. In the end, Shastri also credited the victory to each and every member of the squad, from support staff to masseurs as well as physios.
Here's Ravi Shastri's full speech after India's win at Gabba
Rishabh Pant stats
The Rishabh Pant stats in Test cricket are impressive, to say the least. Pant has played 16 Tests where he has scored 1,088 runs at a brilliant average of 43.52 with four fifties and two hundreds to his name. As far as Pant's wicketkeeping stats in Tests are concerned, the 23-year old has grabbed 67 catches and effected two stumpings.
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SOURCE: BCCI.TV
Updated 12:46 IST, January 20th 2021