Shastri does it yet again!

Head coach's role in India's recent Test series win Down Under is reminiscent of Mumbai's 1993-94 Ranji Trophy triumph

Ravi Shastri’s trollers won’t exactly be silenced, but his actions have spoken louder than words in India’s triumphant Test series in Australia.

Yes, head coaches and other support staff personnel don’t appear in the wickets and runs column of the scoresheet, but they can have a positive influence when a player goes about his task on the field of play.

Shastri, by all accounts, has played an instrumental role in India’s unprecedented two consecutive Test series wins in Australia without lifting that trumpet to sing his own praises.

If a comparison needs to be drawn, this Shastri-guided effort is reminiscent of Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy capture in the 1993-94 season; Shastri’s last in first-class cricket.

Sachin Tendulkar was named captain of the season and an India tour of New Zealand in early 1994 meant that Shastri had to lead a bunch of youngsters in the knockout phase of the national championships.

The trophy had been absent in the cabinet of the Mumbai Cricket Association office for eight seasons and not many were optimistic of it returning that year. But it did, after Bengal were conquered in the final at the Wankhede Stadium on March 30, 1994.

Amol Muzumdar, who launched his remarkable first-class career with a record debut score of 260 against Haryana at Faridabad under Shastri that season, told me earlier this week: “I messaged Ravi to congratulate him and he said he was reminded of our Ranji Trophy victory in 1993-94. The series win Down Under has a Ravi Shastri rubber stamp on it and I can imagine what a great influence he has been on the current lot.

“With Ravi, communication was critical. I remember him telling me that I would make my Mumbai debut a week before the Haryana game. Not only that, he told me that I would bat at No. 4.”

Sulakshan Kulkarni, the wicketkeeper-batsman, who was available to play for Mumbai that season after he shifted to Vidarbha, recalled yesterday how Shastri informed him that he was in the Mumbai side (for the quarter-final against Karnataka in Bangalore) during a Times Shield match in early 1994. Kulkarni had scored a half century for Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers in their semi-final against Tata Sports Club at the Brabourne Stadium. “The Mumbai selection committee was to meet that evening, but even before the meeting Ravi said to me that I will travel with the team. That’s how confident he was about getting me picked,” said Kulkarni, who scored 55 and 16 not out in Bangalore, where Shastri’s lads crossed swords with Syed Kirmani’s Karnataka.

The skipper’s century helped in no small measure to surpass Karnataka’s first innings score of 406. Leg-spinner Sairaj Bahutule was the second centurion in that Mumbai innings after claiming four wickets, including that of Kirmani for 139. In a chat with me later that year, Bahutule said: “I have implemented a lot of advice Ravi passed on to me. He used to say, ‘If you have 20 per cent more talent than the average player, then give it all you’ve got and the rewards will follow.’”

The semi-final against Maharashtra at Pune saw a lot of runs scored. Kulkarni, playing in his first season for Mumbai since 1988-89, helped himself to a hundred, as did opener Sunil More, who carved away for 170. Shastri would have got to three figures too, but was run out for 65 in Mumbai’s total of 509.

Shastri wasn’t liberated from the knee problem which troubled him in the final stages of his international career and, according to his best friend Alex Fernandes, he endured a lot of pain even during that final first-class season,

Mumbai beat Maharashtra on the basis of a massive first innings lead to enter the final against Bengal. I remember his response to senior journalist Sunder Rajan, who asked him why he decided to bat on through the last day: “When you have the opponent under your feet, you don’t let go, you crush them.”

Mumbai’s opponents in the final were the more experienced outfit. Bengal had stalwarts J Arun Lal, Ashok Malhotra and present chief selector Chetan Sharma, in addition to Sourav and Snehashish Ganguly and Prashant Vaidya. But Bengal were shot out for 193 on Day One through the respective pace and spin efforts of Manish Patel and Bahutule (four wickets apiece).

Future ODI left-arm spinner Utpal Chatterjee’s seven wickets ensured Mumbai were restricted to 256. Sourav scored 88 in the second innings and Mumbai were set a 195-run target which they achieved on the fourth day with eight wickets to spare.

Journalist Sharda Ugra remembered covering that Ranji Trophy season for this newspaper as a young reporter. She told me: “The players were in awe of him; they were eating out of his hands, but when we went up to him for quotes after the final, he told us, “Youngsters, youngsters...go talk to the youngsters. After all, they’ve done it.”

Shastri bid goodbye to his playing days in style, but he also made a lasting impression on his teammates, many of whom went on to represent India and have even taken on important coaching roles.

Muzumdar soaked in everything that his mentor had to say. Before embarking on his second season in first-class cricket (1994-95), he told me: “Ravi stuck to the task even when the chips were down. I should count myself fortunate to make my debut under such a great player.”

Muzumdar went on to be one of the heaviest scorers in Indian domestic cricket. A massive 11,167 first-class runs later, Shastri’s influence is not lost on him and there is every reason to believe that the young guns, who were part of the team in Brisbane last week, will remember the Team India head coach long after the sun sets on their careers.

mid-day’s group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance. He tweets @ClaytonMurzello. Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com

The views expressed in this column are the individual’s and don’t represent those of the paper

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