Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri, unlike the memes, were a formidable partnership to be reckoned with in Cricket

India’s campaign at the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup ended in the Super 12 round with a 9 wicket win over Namibia, couldn’t advance to the semi-finals because of two defeats early on in the tournament to Pakistan and New Zealand. With that, the Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri era came to an end.

Virat Kohli had earlier announced he will step down from T20I Captaincy after the World Cup. Meanwhile, Ravi Shastri’s tenure as India’s Head Coach too ended after the World Cup with BCCI announcing Rahul Dravid as his successor.

Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri Partnership

Ravi Shastri’s tenure as the Head Coach of the Indian Men’s Senior Team was from July 2017 – November 2021. Before that, in 2014, he was the director of the Indian cricket team for eight months till the 2015 World Cup.

Meanwhile, it was Virat Kohli’s 50th Match as T20I Captain when he led the team for the last time in T20Is at the 2021 T20 World Cup.

These are some of the following major feats earned by the India Men’s Senior Team under the Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri Partnership:

A glimpse into some of the Achievements earned under this pair

Border–Gavaskar Trophy (2018-19): India won the Test series by 2–1 and became the 1st Asian Team to beat the Aussies in a Test series in their backyard.

2019 ODI World Cup (Semi-finals): At the 2019 ICC ODI World Cup, Men in Blue performed excellently well as they were at the top of the points table. But fell short in the semi-finals against New Zealand, as the Black Caps won by 18 Runs.

Border–Gavaskar Trophy (2020–21): Virat Kohli was not around for full-duration during the Test Series, Ravi Shastri along with stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane guided Team India for a 2nd successive Test Series Win in Australia.

Inaugural ICC World Test Championship (Runners-up): India was the Runners-up of the 2021 ICC World Test Championship Final played from 18–23 June 2021 at Rose Bowl, Southampton in England between India and New Zealand. New Zealand won the match by eight wickets and was crowned champions of the inaugural edition.

India has a 2-1 lead against England in the five-match Test Series: The series was suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak in the Indian camp, earlier this year. Meanwhile, India and England will play the suspended 5th Test next year as it has been rescheduled.

42 Months being No. 1 in Test Ranking: Team India under Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri became a strong team in the longer format as they were at number one ranking in the world from 2016 to 2020 for about 42 months.

First ODI Series Win in South Africa (2018): Under the guidance of this pair, India won the 6-match ODI series by 5–1.

Under Shastri, India also won the Away Test Series against Sri Lanka by 3-0 in 2017 and against West Indies by 2-0 in 2019.

Thus, end of an era, however, a new chapter starts as Rahul Dravid will begin his tenure as Head Coach of Team India.

These were some comments by former cricketers celebrating the duo:

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Ravi Shastri and Virat kholi tenure ends one as coach and one as captain it was a disappointment end but one thing to remember they both have given glories and future star to Indian cricket but only can’t give ICC trophy #Koo #T20WORLDCUP

– Danish kaneria (@kan_261) 9 Nov 2021

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मेरा मानना है कि ट्राफ़ी जीतने या हारने से कोई कप्तान बड़ा या छोटा नहीं होता .. विराट ट्राफ़ी नहीं जीते पर जिस तरह से सेना देशों के ख़िलाफ़ उनका और टीम का प्रदर्शन रहा है वो हम ख़ारिज नहीं कर सकते .. शास्त्री और विराट की जुगलबंदी ने हमें कई बार मैदान पर यादगार पल दिखाए जिसका हमें सम्मान करना चाहिए
#t20worldcup
#cricketonkoo

– Praveen kumar (@praveenkumarofficial) 9 Nov 2021