Indian Cricket Head Coach, Ravi Shastri on Tuesday in a video chat on the Sony Sports India Facebook page said that the Indian squad of Benson-Hedges World Championship of Cricket (WCC) 1985 could have given current Virat Kohli-led side ‘a run for their money.’.
In the live session, Ravi Shastri talked about the memories of the tournament where the Indian team emerged champions.
The best White-ball squad
During the chat session, when Senior Journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, the moderator of the chat, asked the former cricketer about one of the best Indian squads ever, Ravi replied, it was the 1985 Indian squad that won the Benson-Hedges World Championship of Cricket (WCC).
“Yeah, no question about that. Take any team that India puts up in white-ball cricket, the best of what it has to put out, the team of ’85 will give that team a run for their money,” said the Indian Head Coach.
“Many people thought it (the 1983 World Cup win) was a one-off. But the boys were excellent in 1985, with Sunny (Sunil Gavaskar) leading from the front, added the 57-years-old.
Rivalry with Javed Miandad
The cricketer, who won an Audi 100 sedan as a prize for being ‘player of the tournament,’ also said that ‘stuffing’ Pakistan in the final remains a fond memory for him.
Ravi Shastri, on being asked about the other good teams of the tournament, replied promptly with name of New Zealand and Pakistan. He said, after Pakistan, New Zealand could be named as the strongest competitors in the championship. “New Zealand were a fantastic team. They might not have the superstars but they are always a team known for punching much above their weights. We had to play our A game in the semifinals to beat them.”
The Indian Head Coach also opened up on the on-field rivalry between him and the then Pakistani captain Javed Miandad
He agreed that even the Pakistan captain had his eyes on the ‘Audi 100 Sedan’ car but he wasn’t letting it go easy.
“Javed had no chance of getting the Audi. He would try to get under your skin on the field,” concluded Shastri.
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