The new cricket manager said his endeavour will be to work hard to make the team enjoy the sport and not to make it like nine-to-five desk job behind a computer.
NEW DELHI: In a refreshing approach to his task as the Indian team's cricket manager, Ravi Shastri declared on Tuesday that captain of the team is the "boss".
"Captain is the boss and that is how it should be," the former Indian captain, who has been appointed manager for next month's Bangladesh tour, said in a telephone interview from Singapore.
Shastri saw no need for a batting coach "at the moment," saying that he would impart his knowledge "to help the team in whichever way. Venkatesh Prasad is the bowling coach and Robin Singh the fielding coach."
"Once I sit down with skipper Rahul Dravid, a plan can be formulated for each and every player", he said in response to a question about his approach.
Praising Dravid, Shastri said, "Rahul is a great ambassador for sports and so are other senior players".
Asked about his approach to his assignment, Shastri said, "A good team cannot be a bad team in two weeks and a good team cannot be an excellent team in two weeks."
"My endeavour is to work hard to make the team enjoy the sport in the spirit of sports and not to make it like nine-to-five desk job behind a computer," he said.
The former Indian all-rounder said that "the bottomline is to make sure that everything goes smoothly at the end of the day."
When asked how difficult it would be for the team to recover from the World Cup setback, Shastri replied "I'm never one to dwell in the past, neither am I one who looks into future. I would like to concentrate on the present and try hard on our present."
Shastri was of the view that India required a pool of 25 players considering the amount of cricket in the next 14 months.
About the prospects of the team which is to play two Tests and three one-dayers in Bangladesh, Shastri said, "No one in the team would underestimate Bangladesh, especially after they have thrashed South Africa in the World Cup".
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