After being retained as Head Coach of the Indian Cricket Team, Ravi Shastri thanked the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) members – Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad, and Shantha Rangaswamy.
Speaking to bcci.tv after his reappointment for another 26 months, Shastri – who is currently with the Indian team in the West Indies – said a lot of youngsters would get chances in the next couple of years.
“First, I would like to thank the CAC for having faith in me. It’s a privilege and honour to be part of Team India.
“The next two years is to see the smooth transition happening. You will get a lot of youngsters coming – in both white-ball setup and Tests. You need to identify another three-four bowlers to add to the pool by the end of our tenure. My endeavour by the end of this tenure would be to leave the team in a happier space so that they can set a legacy in the time to come,” said Shastri.
“The reason why I came in here is the belief I had in this team, the belief that they could leave a legacy which very few teams have left behind which other teams going down will try and emulate.
“That is the desire. We are on track. There’s always room for improvement, and with youth coming around, we can be sure of exciting times in the near future,” he added.
Shastri also emphasized that he, along with the team, would be striving to improve on all fronts and make sure they learn from their mistakes.
“You’ve got to learn from your mistakes; nobody is perfect. When you strive for excellence and strive to raise the bar, then you have to pay attention to detail.
“When you mess up or have an off day, don’t let that day go by and make sure you are focusing and concentrating on how you can overcome that barrier. That will be the endeavour of this team,” Shastri added further.
Under his tenure, India registered their first-ever Test series win in Australia in 2019 after losing badly on tours of South Africa and England in 2018. The Men in Blue also recorded their first-ever bilateral ODI series win in South Africa last year.
However, Virat Kohli & Co. faced a surprising defeat against the Black Caps in the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup after finishing at the top in the league stage.
“The team has been superbly consistent. If you look at the performances over the last two years, it’s been simply outstanding. They have set the bar, and it’s now up to them to raise the bar,” said Shastri.
He also clearly mentioned that the team management would not shy away from experimenting.
“We will invest in youth, and there is room for experimentation.”
Just like former India captain MS Dhoni, Shastri also wants to see India as the best fielding side in the world.
“In the last four-five years, the biggest improvement has been in fielding. And the endeavour is to make this side the best fielding team in the world.”
“It’s a clear dictate to whosoever wants to play in this team to have a spectacular standard of fielding, especially in white-ball cricket,” Shastri signed off.
EXCLUSIVE: An honour & privilege to be retained as coach: @RaviShastriOfc
After being retained as Head Coach, Ravi Shastri listed out the challenges ahead & his future plans for #TeamIndia. Interview by @28anand
Watch the full video here 📹https://t.co/vmNzMtEY1W #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/hX3bhUZC5T
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 17, 2019
