Ravi Shastri backs the current Indian team to achieve what none of the previous teams have

New India head coach Ravi Shastri claimed that the current Indian team has the potential to make it big. Not just big but it has the capabilities to create history like no other Indian team have done before. Ravi Shastri took over as the head coach from Anil Kumble and the Sri Lanka series marked the beginning of his second spell.

Shastri started his campaign with a bang as Virat Kohli and his men crushed the hosts in a thumping victory of 304 runs. It was a highly dominant performance by the men in blue and they justified their number one ranking in the Test format.

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Speaking about the win, Shastri pointed out that the team has already achieved a lot of things that previous teams could not. He also claimed that there is more to come. “This team has been with each other for last two years. They are much more experienced now. They have already done things that a lot of Indian teams and a lot of big names couldn’t do in their careers. Like, for example, winning a series here for over 20 years.” said Shastri.

“This team is used to doing things which other Indian teams haven’t done, overseas. Forget Australia, I am not even touching Australia. A lot of tuff cricket is coming ahead. I am very positive that this team can do things that probably no other Indian team has done,” he added.

KL Rahul is doing good

Speaking about the opener KL Rahul, the head coach Shastri said, “Rahul is (doing) good. We are watching him closely. He went through some tough times and he was in the hospital for 2-3 days. Obviously, it has taken a lot out of him.”

“So we have to be very careful how we treat him, we are watching him very closely and he is getting better by the day,” added Shastri.

Shastri has changed a lot of things inside the dressing room immediately after taking over the job. He has introduced a new style of preparation which has had its impact in the very first game. Shastri hopes that the team will continue to perform like the same way in the coming future.

“I thought the boys were fantastic in the last Test match but what we are striving for is for improvement. There are still areas to improve from the last game, you know. And, we have discussed that and what we want from this team as a unit collectively is consistency, you know. You are not just…where you are good in one game and then you are totally the opposite in the other. You know, where levels are consistency have to be high,” he said.

However, Shastri highlighted that nothing has changed in the dressing room since his first spell as the head coach. “When I got in, it was pretty much the same where I left. I didn’t see any change. The nucleus of the team is pretty much the same,” he said.

“I know what to expect from them and they know what to expect from me. There is no need of reinventing the wheel or anything of that sort,” he added.

Explaining his role, Shastri added  “My role is to be in-charge of the entire support staff and make sure that we get the boys in great mental space to go out and express themselves. With nothing else on their minds but to go and play a brand of cricket which people have seen India play over the last three years-it’s fearless and positive.”

Shastri heaped praise on Virat Kohli and said that the latter has matured as a captain. Shastri has a smooth relationship with the skipper and he backs Kohli to be among the very best captains to have ruled the game.

“I think he (Virat Kohli) is what 27-28 Test matches old now as captain, you can see a big difference.”

“You can see it in the body language, he is matured and he will continue to mature and learn. For his age, he has done quite a lot, you know. Again, there are signs there, you know where, you know, he can be right up there with the very best,” he concluded.