NEW DELHI: Former India cricketer and ex-head coach Ravi Shastri understands the significance of the intense rivalry between India and Pakistan in international cricket. He recently shared his thoughts on current head coach Gautam Gambhir’s remarks ahead of their highly anticipated ICC Champions Trophy clash.
India and Pakistan, both placed in Group A of the tournament, will face off on February 23 in Dubai. The two teams last met at the venue in an ICC event in 2021, where Pakistan secured a dominant 10-wicket victory.
Gambhir recently stated that the Champions Trophy group-stage match against Pakistan holds the same importance as any other fixture in the tournament, emphasizing that all games carry equal value.
Speaking on the latest edition of The ICC Review, Shastri acknowledged that he had expressed a similar sentiment during his tenure as head coach but hinted that there is more to it than meets the eye.
“I was the coach for seven years. Whenever I was asked, I said the same thing (as Gambhir). But let me assure you, deep down, there’s a lot more to that than you actually think, that’s for the media,” Shastri said.
“You have to say it. But deep down, you want to win that. Because if you don’t, you’ll be reminded of it until the next time you play against Pakistan.
“People don’t care what you have done in the past. They’re not bothered about the last 10 games if you won eight or you won nine. But they’ll remind you if you lose one, until the next time you play them.
“It can be a taxi driver, it could be anyone on the street. What happened to India? The same question to Pakistan. What happened to Pakistan? So it always plays on your mind, so whether you like it or not, it’s a different game. Different beasts altogether.”
Shastri, however, believes that the throwback won’t be taking up much headspace for Indian players.
“No, that won’t play on their mind because that was a T20 game. This is a 50-over clash. It’s totally different,” Shastri said.
“And it’s a longer game which suits India more, because in T20 you can get upset. In 50-over cricket, if you’ve got experience and you’ve got depth in your batting and bowling departments and you know, it makes a massive, massive difference.
“And when you look at India and Pakistan man to man, India is a far better side and far more experienced as well.”