Ravi Shastri: Virat Kohli-led Indian team is better than the best in the past

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Virat Kohli dives for a catch during a training session. Pics/AP,PTI

Ravi Shastri is just about the most positive cricketer India has produced. On the field, no task was too onerous, no situation so dire that it called for quitting. As head coach of the Indian team, Shastri has brought the same attitude to bear.

While Virat Kohli's team - coached till recently by Anil Kumble - have had a fabulous year, winning every Test series they played and reaching the final of the ICC Champions Trophy, the praise heaped on them by their coach was to be heard to be believed.

"This team has been with each other for two years and they are much more experienced now. They have already done things that a lot of Indian teams and a lot of big names couldn't do in their careers. Like for example to win a series here (in Sri Lanka) for 20 years," said Shastri.

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Ravi Shastri

"A lot of big names have played for 20 years, they have come to Sri Lanka many times and they have never won a series. But they have done that. They have won a one-day series in Australia for the first time in 20-odd years, which a lot of teams haven't done. This team is used to doing things that a lot of other teams haven't done and that too overseas.

"Forget Australia, I am not even touching the Australia tour, so when you say overseas like South Africa, England, it is a lot of tough cricket coming up and I see it as an opportunity. I am very positive here that this team can do things that probably no other Indian team has done."

While it makes eminent sense for a coach to praise his wards, this is a bit of an oversimplification from Shastri.

While Kohli and his men are going great guns, the Sri Lankan team they are playing against at the moment - no disrespect intended - is not cut from the same cloth that the ones the Tendulkars and Dravids played against.

Rangana Herath is a genuine match-winner, but he is almost 40, and the likes of Muralitharan, Vaas, and more recently Sangakkara and Jayawardene are in a different league to some of the youngsters in the mix.

When asked about his own role in the set up, Shastri was less exuberant. "I don't think at this level coaching is needed. At this level it is all about fine tuning and getting the blokes in good mental space to go out and play the game," he said.

When asked what it was like for him to get back in the dressing room, Shastri said, "For me it was like walking into the dressing room as I had left it. Nothing had changed and no special buttons I had to press. It was just that one play button and off you went."

He also said that he didn't really have to do much to improve the atmosphere in the dressing room. "I don't know what it was like 10 months ago. As far as I am concerned I just had to walk in. That was enough."

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