‘Pride at stake’: Ravi Shastri speaks about World Test Championship

After their heartbreak in the World Cup, the Indian team were back at their consistent best when they blanked West Indies across all the three formats. Now, they are all set to take on South Africa in a home series and head coach Ravi Shastri believes that with the World Test Championship on, there will be no easy matches in store. “We are playing at home [against South Africa], and it is the World Test Championship, so now there is even more reason on why you have to play the way you should. There are now points to be accumulated. We are the No.1 team in the world, and we have been for the last three years, so there is pride at stake as well,” Shastri told Gulf News.

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After being reappointed as India’s head coach, Shastri had outlined his vision and said that the immediate focus would be to invest in youth and build a side for the T20 World Cup next year.

“The vision is to keep the consistency level going,” Shastri said. “It will be a team in transition, and one has to keep an eye out for the youth and also keep an eye on developing the bench strength as far as batting and bowling goes across all three formats. We should, at the same time, be never losing sight of the fact that you play to win. Never losing that angle, but yet, at the same time, investing in youth.”

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“The path should be that knowing well you have got 12 months to go for the T20 World Cup and you have about 18-20 months to go for the World Test Championship. Getting youth in during that transition period by keeping an eye on the youth is important so that they can mix with the experience and give us a really solid side,” he further added.

India take on South Africa in a 3-match T20I series which will then be followed by a 3-match Test series.

First Published: Sep 09, 2019 14:57 IST