Cricket Australia (CA) and its broadcaster Fox Cricket have loaded their commentary panel with big guns by roping in Ravi Shastri, the former India head coach and now once again a commentator.
Ravi Shastri is one of the most respected and experienced commentators, who could make even a bland and boring session of a Test match into a blockbuster entertainer with his energy and style of commentary.
However, Ravi Shastri didn’t have an ideal start to his stint in the Australia vs Pakistan 1st Test match at the Perth Stadium as he fumbled with a couple of words at the toss and got trolled mercilessly on social media. The match kicked off on Thursday morning in Perth and Shastri was given the toss duties.
While Ravi Shastri wanted to relay to the fans about the extra pace and bounce that Perth is famous for, he fumbled and messed up a little bit, which eked out laughter and various emotions from the Indian fans.
Shastri said: “Here at the magnificient Optus Stadium in Perth. The pace..of….bounce..and pace.”
Fox Cricket uploaded this video on their Instagram handle and Indian fans badly trolled Shastri for his mistake at the toss. Some suggested that the former head coach, infamously known for his drinking, had already had a couple of beers in the morning, while another said Shastri should have come prepared for the toss.
Check out the video of Ravi Shastri fumbling at toss, and the reactions to it:
Aussie skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to bat first.
Cummins said: “We’ve played a lot of cricket together and this year has been special. We play pretty well here, have a good record. An Aussie ground with pace and bounce.”
Shan Masood said: “We wanted to have a bat as well. You have to put the toss aside and put in a good bowling performance. We’ve had some ideal preparation and some match practice. We want to play more Test cricket, it’s pinnacle.”
Pakistan (Playing XI): Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood(c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Sarfaraz Ahmed(w), Agha Salman, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Aamer Jamal, Khurram Shahzad
Australia (Playing XI): David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
