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Ravi Shastri says there won't be any more chopping and changing till World Cup

'The grace period is over now,' says the Team India coach.

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Winning against all odds is what the Indian cricket team under Virat Kohli and guided by former skipper Ravi Shastri is riding on. Even if it means losing a Test that could otherwise have been saved by batting cautiously when it was a matter of surviving a final session or two.

The recent Oval Test in England was an example. Centurions KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant resumed post tea on final day with India needing another 166 to win. This was an improbable target, considering Rahul and Pant were the last recognised batting pair and India would go on to lose if one of them was dismissed, thereby losing the Test.

 

But, in an act of madness, Rahul and Pant fell in quick succession and the Indian team lost by 118 runs. A Test that could be drawn was lost. But ask head coach Ravi Shastri if he will still tell his boys to go for a win and in the process lose and not draw a Test, and pat comes his reply in his commanding voice on Thursday, the eve of the Indian team’s departure to Australia for a series of 3 T20Is, 4 Tests and 3 ODIs.

“Playing for a win, 100 per cent. Nothing will change. It is just seizing those tough situations, getting tough mentally when the going gets tough. That’s where we have erred. If we take ownership as individuals in such situations, get tough mentally, then probably we will do better, for sure," said the 56-year-old.

 

Shastri, who led India in one Test and secured a win in that – the Chennai game against the West Indies in 1988 made famous by leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani taking 16 wickets on debut – said that the next 13 ODIs that India will play will more or less be the squad for the 2019 World Cup in England.

“As far as one-day cricket is concerned, we will try to play close to the 15 that will go to the World Cup. Chopping and changing over now. Rest period over. Now is the time to play as a unit. Hopefully we will not get injuries so that we have to look elsewhere. There are not too many games. We have eight good games in Australia and New Zealand, and then five here against Australia, so 13 games in One-days. We will try and play the best team at all times," he said.

 

Before the start of the South Africa tour earlier this year, Shastri said that the next 18 months would define this Indian team. Asked to take an assessment of the team midway through that period, Shastri said: “I see a lot of progress across all formats, and I say that in spite of the scoreline (1-4 loss) in England. When you look at actual performances across all three formats in conditions that are foreign to us, I am more than happy. It is still a learning process. If we learn from our mistakes in South Africa and England, I think it will stand us in good stead in Australia.”

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