Not every rainbow ends in a pot of gold. The same can be said about the Ravi Shastri-Virat Kohli combination in Indian cricket.
The two first got together in 2014 for a Test match at Adelaide after then skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was banned from the game, paving the way for Kohli to lead the team. Dhoni led in the next two matches in Brisbane and Melbourne but after his sudden decision to retire from the traditional format, Kohli was made full-time captain of the Test team.
Shastri became the director of Indian cricket team in 2014 for a period of eight months from India's tour of England till the 2015 World Cup.
Shastri was removed in 2016 but on July 13, 2017, he was appointed the head coach of the Indian team, post the controversial exit of Anil Kumble after the humiliating 180-run loss to arch-rivals Pakistan in the Champions Trophy final.
Both Kohli and Shastri are legends in their own right, and share a great chemistry. Their passion and never-say-die attitude rubbed off on the team, which pulled off some of the unbelievable wins during their tenure. But, sadly, the duo never got their hands on an ICC trophy. Their last assignment together—the ongoing T20 World Cup—too ended in disappointment, with India failing to make the semifinals.
The trophy glitch apart, Team India is now the team to beat across formats, and a lot of the credit must go skipper Kohli and coach Shastri, along with the support staff, of course.
As their tenure comes to an end—in T20Is only for now, for Kohli—and Team India looks at the promising future ahead with Rahul Dravid as the coach and Rohit Sharma as the skipper and K.L. Rahul as the deputy, here's a look at the major achievements of the Shastri-Kohli combination.
Border Gavaskar Trophy win (2018-19): Under the duo's guidance, India scripted history by becoming the first Asian team to beat Australia in a Test series in their own backyard.
Second successive Test series triumph in Australia (2020-21): Though Kohli was not around for the full duration of the tour, Shastri and his stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane guided the team admirably in the absence of the regular skipper, as India defeated Australia to clinch the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the second successive time.
World Test Championship final (2021): India made it to the final of the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship under the captaincy of Kohli and Shastri's guidance. However, Virat Kohli & Co. lost the final by eight wickets as New Zealand were crowned champions.
ODI World Cup semifinal (2019): India were the best team in the group stages of the 2019 ICC World Cup and had topped the points table. However, the Men in Blue faced a heartbreaking defeat against New Zealand in the semi-final to bow out of the tournament.
With the duo of Kohli and Shastri calling the shots, India took a 2-1 lead in the five-match series against England earlier this year before the rubber was suspended due to COVID-19 outbreak in the Indian camp.
Under Shastri's watch, India won a T20I series in South Africa, New Zealand, England and Australia.
Shastri also oversaw a 3-0 whitewash of Sri Lanka in 2017, the first time they achieved such a feat.
India also inflicted a whitewash on West Indies in a Test series in the Caribbean for the first time.
During their time, India formed a potent pace bowling unit that shone in all conditions and against the best in the world.
42 months at the top of Test ranking: Under coach Shastri and skipper Kohli, the Indian team became a force to reckon with in Test cricket, holding on to the number one ranking in the world for 42 months from 2016 to 2020.
(With PTI inputs)
