Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Records Make Him The Best: Ravi Shastri

“It is never a permanent strategy”.

No problem at all. It will backfire on you if the conditions are totally different, ” he said. To the extent that the talk during the tour very quickly shifted from aggression and the urge to play fearless cricket to the flexibility in the Indian batting-order as the series waged on.

Indian spinner R Ashwin bowls during the preparatory camp for the upcoming series against South Africa at NCA in Bengaluru on Thursday.

“So, you might need six batsmen, you might need four and a half bowlers, you might need just a bowler to do the job to give the main bowlers a rest. And play to the conditions and opposition.

Meanwhile, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu practiced their big hits at the adjoining M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, in a bid to get the power strokes going to aid in their finishing skills that have seen the skipper take India time and time again past the target.

Are you looking for ways to Advertise Your Business? I don’t think anyone will come close to him.

Dravid has already impressed as a coach, by inspiring young talent in the squad, and even guided India “A” team to victory in the tough tri-series last month which featured Australia “A” and South Africa “A”.

With a long season ahead, beginning with the three T20Is, five ODIs and four Tests against a formidable South Africa unit, Shastri’s sounding out of Dravid could be crucial, with the team management getting a better idea of what plans to put in place and who to call on in case any first-choice player becomes unavailable.

Asked if it makes a difference that they now have a considerable amount of time with the team, Shastri’s response was pithy: “Absolutely”. And so we what we are up against.

“We know what we are up against, the respect is there, but we won’t take any backward steps”, he added. The tour starts with a T20I on October 2 in Dharamsala. You are talking of a legend, one of the all-time greats of world cricket. Nothing new. Everything falls into place automatically.

“You got to respect the fact that they are the No.1 team in the world”. He played under him in Bangladesh. “They are playing under a champion”, Shastri said. “Those are things on which I want to interact with Rahul”, he said. He has done the dirty work for donkey’s years. “Give him the chance to enjoy himself”, Shastri said. “You are talking about probably one of the greatest captains and players to have played the game”. “Don’t worry about Mississippi he will decide on the day whether to bat up the order”, he said. They travel better than any other team, and their record shows that.

“Nobody is in a comfort zone. As a batsman in the top-order you should be prepared to bat everywhere. Now these were unforeseen circumstances, otherwise they would not have to do it…

Asked about his tenure so far, he remarked.

“For me the most successful tour was the tour of Australia“.

“This is a young team, very passionate and wanting to learn. They don’t want to rest on their laurels and they want to be consistent”, he said. “It (bench strength) is very good”.

Every assignment for me has been a big one for the last one year.

From the time Ravi Shastri has taken over as team director of the India team, there has been a sea change in the attitude and performance of the players. His captaincy record has also been fabulous for India, notching up 101 wins in 181 games with a success rate of 60.58 percent.

“I treat it as a challenge”, Shastri said. It is a responsibility which I have never backed away from, in anything I have done in life. So, this is no exception.

Aura or no aura, the Indian team director Ravi Shastri-not one to hand over even a quarter to the opposition-still acknowledges the might of the challenge that Hashim Amla & Co will pose to his young team over the next 72 days.