At the Newlands Cricket Stadium, where India’s campaign was set to begin, Ravi Shastri, the team’s then-coach, was incensed by his players’ performance, particularly the bowlers.
The creation of an excellent pace attack was one of the most important lessons learned during Ravi Shastri’s time as India’s head coach. Shastri and former captain Virat Kohli reorganised India’s fast-bowling line-up after emphasising how crucial it was to win games away from home, which required taking 20 wickets in a Test match.
Jasprit Bumrah was released, while Mohammed Shami overcame his fitness issues to become the match-winner. After all these years, Ishant Sharma finally developed into the bowler that Ricky Ponting feared, while Umesh Yadav was more dangerous than ever. The emergence of Mohammed Siraj was another factor that made India’s fast bowling a winning force. The fact that India drew in England and won back-to-back series in Australia was largely due to their five-pronged pace attack.
By 2018, what had begun as a promise had developed into a revolution. Bumrah made his Test debut in that year as India sought to win the Test series in South Africa. According to R Sridhar in his book “Coaching Beyond: My experience with the Indian squad,” India’s campaign was scheduled to begin at the Newlands Cricket Stadium, but after a passage of play, Shastri, the then-India coach, was upset with his side’s performance, particularly the bowlers.
“For the first Test in Cape Town at the beginning of 2018, we were in South Africa. As soon as the game began, Bhuvneshwar dismissed Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, and Hashim Amla, reducing them to 12/3. They eventually made 286 after we bowled like millionaires. Invoking the pace attack that evening—Bhuvi, Shami, Bumrah, and Hardik—Ravi roared, “What’s this rubbish? I am tired of seeing people drive in the middle of the road. Any driving that occurs after this must only be done on the road. Don’t waste time with bloody half-volleys; engage them.” Former fielding coach Sridhar wrote.
South Africa advanced thanks to half-centuries from AB de Villiers and captain Faf du Plessis after Bhuvneshwar’s early three-wicket burst. However, it turned out that Shastri’s advice was spot on. India bowled South Africa out for 130 in the second innings after giving up a sizable lead, and although though Kohli’s team lost the Test by 72 runs, in the long run, it marked the start of something remarkable for Indian cricket. In his own words, Shastri had described the incident in 2021, and his account matched all the specifics mentioned by Sridhar.
“We had a decent Day 1 in the early going. After taking three wickets, we bowled a tonne of garbage after lunch. South Africa bounced back and hit 200 despite what we gave it. The following morning, we summoned the bowlers and sternly instructed them to leave their driver’s licence at home. I remarked that I don’t want to see a ball thrown up under anyone’s nose “He said it during the Star Sports programme “Bold and Brave: The Shastri Way.”
“It needs to be a different length; instead of Indian conditions where you can be a little fuller, you need to get a little bit shorter and use the bounce. And the bowling attack changed after that. In the second innings, we easily defeated South Africa for 130. They then performed admirably on a good Centurion pitch and double-bowled South Africa in Johannesburg.”
India eventually lost the tests at Cape Town and Centurion, giving up the series, but they did manage a stunning 63-run victory at Wanders. The bowling team pulled together and skittled the hosts for 194 and 177 despite putting up 187 and 247 on the scoreboard.
