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Shastri reveals moment he knew Virat Kohli would ‘unleash hell’ on England at Lord's: ‘I’m reading newspaper in bus…’
Ravi Shastri recalled Virat Kohli's iconic ‘unleash hell’ team-talk during a chat with Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain ahead of Lord's Test.
Over the past many years, the Indian Test team has registered memorable overseas victories. While not many in India's rich cricketing history come close to the side's twin-series victories in Australia (2018/19 and 2020/21), there were others which solidified India's status as one of the best Test teams in modern-day cricket. One of those victories came in 2022 when India defeated England at the iconic Lord's cricket ground, registering a brilliant 151-run victory.
India were in a spot of bother during the final day of the Test, with the side struggling at 181/6, leading by 155. Ahead of the day's start, Shastri revealed the team had decided that a target in the region of 170-180 would be competitive. However, what followed was a brilliant partnership between Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, with Shami smashing an unbeaten half-century, leading India to declare at 298/8d.
Also read: 'Coach said don’t bother coming for next Test, you're done. I finished at Lord's': Dinesh Karthik embarrasses Shastri
It was then, when Virat Kohli, the Indian skipper at the time, led the famous team huddle where he said the iconic words to his teammates: 'unleash hell'. India eventually bowled England out for 120.
During a chat with Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain, Shastri spoke in detail about the moment he realised Kohli will be fired up in the team talk.
“We had a chat in the morning (Day 5) and all we said (was) ‘try and get England to chase 170 and we are winning this’. We were not thinking about how much we will score in the end; just give them 170-180, and we can win this game,” Shastri began.
"We had an excellent attack. Bumrah, Siraj, Ishant Sharma... we had a good attack. (Then) it was the last wicket partnership… England favourites. I picked the Times and Michael Atherton says, 'England are favourites!'
“I'm reading all of this in the bus. We reached here, and the partnership adds about 100 (89 runs). That lifted the dressing room. It was Covid times, so the long room was empty. No members (were) allowed, so when the two players came back, the whole team stood there and made a corridor for them to welcome back. I knew then and there, Kohli is going to tell them something once they go out for the huddle. That's when he said, 'unleash hell!'”
India return to Lord's this week
Three years since the memorable victory at the venue, a new-look India, without its stalwarts, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, will return to Lord's under the captaincy of Shubman Gill. India are in great spirits, too, having defeated England by a mammoth 336 runs in the second Test at Edgbaston.
The series is currently level at 1-1.
