Team of 1985 was stronger than 1983: Ravi Shastri

NEW DELHI:Ravi Shastri said that it was great to be part of the Indian teams that won the 1985 World Championship and the 2018/19 team that won the Test series in Australia. Shastri was a player in the 1985 side led by Sunil Gavaskar and was head coach when Virat Kohli's boys became the first outfit from Asia to beat Australia in their own backyard in a Test series.

"It is great to be part of those two teams, as a coach that series in Australia, is going to be very very special and hard to beat, because that team wasn't beaten in 71 years by any Asian team," Shastri said on the 'Sony Ten Pit Stop' show.

"There have been plenty who have gone there, tried their best and everyone knows how tough it is to beat Australia in Australia in Test match cricket, but in white-ball cricket you can't beat 1985 as a player. To win both is fantastic."

Shastri however said that the 1985 squad that he was part of was better than the one that famously won the World Cup two years ago and also the current team.

"No question about that. They (team of 85) will give any team that India puts up in white-ball cricket, a run for their money. That team of 85 will give this team a run for money," Shastri said.

"I go one step ahead and say the team of 1985 was a stronger team compared to 1983. You know, I was part of both teams, I played in the 1983 World Cup and 1985, when you look man to man, 80 per cent of that 83 team was still there, but then some of the youngsters that you got in there like a (Laxman) Sivaramakrishnan, Sadanand Vishwanath, (Mohammed) Azharuddin, those kind of guys came in to add to the experience you already had of 83 (and it) was fantastic."

Meanwhile Shastri on Wednesday jogged down the memory lane and recalled his emphatic performance in the Ranji Trophy 1984-85 final against Delhi.

Shastri took to social media to share an old photo from his early playing days and his post read: "Summer of 1984-85. Could do nothing wrong. Even the last game of hectic season. Ranji final vs Delhi." Mumbai, then Bombay, defeated Delhi in the final by 90 runs to clinch their 30th Ranji title on home turf. Shastri's all-round show helped them win the 51st edition of India's premier domestic competition.

Batting first, Mumbai put up a competitive score of 325 on board, courtesy a fine century from Sunil Gavaskar. Madan Lal starred with the ball for Delhi as he ended the first essay with outstanding figures of 4/42.

Delhi took a slender first innings lead as a century from Ajay Sharma and half-centuries from Chetan Chauhan (98) and Madal Lal (78) took them to 398. Raju Kulkarni ended with a five-wicket haul for Mumbai while Shastri chipped in four wickets.

Big names stood up for Mumbai in the second innings as Lalchand Rajput (63), Sandip Patil (57), Gavaskar (64) and Shastri (76) all crossed the fifty-run mark to take the score to 364.

Shastri then spun a web around the Delhi batsmen as he scalped eight wickets in the second innings to power his team to a famous victory. (IANS)

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