When India’s limited overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni marshals his forces against South Africa at the HPCA stadium in Dharamsala in early October, it will be his first outing in three months.
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The 72-long tour will be South Africa’s biggest away tour in history and the series will undoubtedly put both teams under enormous mental and physical stress.
Maintaining that India’s performance is not being affected by two-captain theory, Shastri said “Dhoni is a seasoned campaigner, one of the all-time greats of world cricket”.
Lauding Dravid’s efforts with the India “A” unit, Ravi Shastri on Friday said: “He is doing a wonderful job”. They play well in overseas conditions. For the team, it’s no difference. What is the difference, they are playing under a champion. You can see this is a young team, which is passionate. More recently, Gurkeerat Singh Mann’s consistently brilliant showing under pressure has landed him a spot in the One-Day global side while S Aravind finds himself in the Twenty20 worldwide side.
Kohli is one of the most marketable athletes in the world at present and he has successfully ventured into the modern business trend of celebrity-backed entities with his partnership with Chisel, a chain of gym and fitness centers.
On his thoughts on the South African side which will arrive next week for a 72-day tour, Shastri said: “You have to respect the fact they are the No. 1 team in the world”. That is being put into practice, which I am really heartened by.
Dravid is in the best position to know the talent in India A team as he has been with the boys for quite some time now, Shastri said. The Indians are now at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore where Shastri is supervising a preparatory camp. So, nothing changes. “I take it as a challenge”. There has been some talk – always rubbished by the team – of a division of sorts with the captaincy split between these two men, but watching them at the Indian team’s nets on Friday, comfortable seemed to be the mot juste to describe their interaction. “You are talking about probably one of the greatest captains and players to have played the game”. The work ethic, what you put into place to win a game, all that has to be done in the same way that you do with any other team.
No, it (five bowler theory) is not a permanent strategy. I dont think anyone will come close to him. “Those are the things you have got to consult Rahul for. The endeavour will be to keep that consistency going over the next 8-9 months till we are in charge”.
By Wisden India MS Dhoni was marking his run up, running in with the energy of a 20 year old, and bowling seam-up to Virat Kohli. Those are the things you have got to interact with Rahul for. Answering a question on whether Dhoni should bat at No 4, Shastri shot back, “Don’t you think it is about time?” But the composition of the team will depend on the playing conditions and we are not yet sure how the wickets are going to be, ” he said.
Shastri said that no batsman in the Indian team was in the comfort zone and they should be prepared to bat in any position. Because, it will backfire on you if the conditions are totally different.
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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. Those were unforeseen circumstances (in Sri Lanka), otherwise they wouldn’t have had to do it. Shikhar (Dhawan) was injured, so was Vijay. “The respect is there, but we won’t take any backward step”. You take it one series at a time, there is no small series in world cricket today, its just that the teams change. “It’s important to study the opposition and decide what the best combination is”.
