Sanjay Manjrekar disagrees with Virat Kohli, Ravi Shastri, denies India's series win in Australia was the greatest ever

A lot has been made up about India's recent Test series win over Australia. Indian skipper Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri have boasted about the success, which was country's first ever in Australia while also the first for any Asian team Down Under.

Both Kohli and Shastri openly exclaimed that this was the biggest ever success for Team India, even surpassing the 1983 or 2011 World Cup. But former Indian player turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar seems to disagree.

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, the veteran of 37 Tests and 74 ODIs believes that despite the historic series win, India has issues in its batting department, and that the final result could very well have been different if not for Cheteshwar Pujara.

"We have to understand that this Australian batting lineup is the weakest. And before the series began, India had a good chance of winning. But because India weren't winning in South Africa and England despite having a good team there was that question mark. So, No.4. Although the quality of the Indian bowling attack was good. But India had a weakness too - going into the series their batting had a problem. And the series would have been a lot closer had Pujara, after India were 40 for 4 on Day 1 (at Adelaide) not got that hundred," he added.

Following his comments, he also revealed that India's success in Australia only ranks fourth in his list which is topped by India's 1-0 series win over England in the three-Test series in 1971.

1. India's 1-0 vs England in 1971
2. India's 1-0 vs West Indies in 1970/71
3. India's 2-0 vs England in 1986
4. India's 2-1 vs Australia in 2018/19
5. India's 2-1 vs Pakistan in 2003/04

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In the post-match press conference after the final Test in Sydney, Kohli and Shastri addressed the media, wherein they rated their recent success as the best ever. 

"I will tell you how satisfying it is for me. World Cup 1983, World Championship of Cricket 1985 – this is as big, or even bigger, because it is in the truest (Test) format of the game. It’s Test cricket, which is meant to be the toughest," the Indian head coach said.