A lot of people forget the role Virat Kohli has played in Team India's success: Ravi Shastri

Team India clinched the four-match Test series against England by an impressive 3-1 and will now lock horns against New Zealand in the final of the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship, scheduled at the Lord’s in England from June 18 to June 22, 2021. This was a special victory for Indian skipper Virat Kohli as this was his 10th series win in a row at home and he also surpassed Steve Waugh to become the world’s third-most successful Test captain at home.

While India’s head coach Ravi Shastri was all praises for the players for an impressive show in the Test series, he underlined that many cricket fans often tend to forget the role Indian skipper Virat Kohli has played in the unprecedented success of the Men in Blue. Shastri reckoned that it was Kohli who imbibed the winning attitude in the team and made the players realize the importance of taking ownership for their errors.

Further, the veteran believes that the good camaraderie between him and Virat has positively benefitted the team as they both are on the same page in terms of professionalism, work ethic, fitness, and high fielding standards. “A lot of people forget the role Virat Kohli has played [in Team India’s success]. If my mindset and his mindset had not matched, we would have gone nowhere. Virat was on the same page as me. He wanted professionalism, work ethic, fitness, and high fielding standards,” said Shastri in Virtual Press conference.

As an individual, as a coach, I am extremely proud of what the boys have done: Ravi Shastri

“He wanted trust within the system and positive energy channeled toward playing cricket. [He wanted] no excuses whether you win or lose, [players to] take ownership rather than pointing fingers. ‘This, that, umpire messed made the wrong call’, this team doesn’t give excuses. Remove the ‘I’ word and put ‘we’ in its place. All this has together worked for us as a team,”  Shastri added.

Further, the former cricketer revealed that he has never seen such a team atmosphere where the players take so much pride in representing the country. He reckoned that he’s extremely proud of how well the Indian cricket team has evolved in recent years.

“I think when I see this Indian team, when I walk into the team room and I see the energy, the team spirit there, I have never seen such a team atmosphere. I have been in this job for 7 years, I haven’t seen such an atmosphere. The trust, the enjoyment, and the pride in performing for the country, I haven’t witnessed before. As an individual, as a coach, I am extremely proud of what the boys have done and I am proud of my Indian cricket team,” concluded Ravi Shastri.