da bet7k： The India coach feels in all the time he has been doing the job, this was the best performance from India “as a batting unit, as a catching unit and as a bowling unit”
da premier bet： Nagraj Gollapudi at Trent Bridge22-Aug-20180:41
‘India are nearly the best travelling team in the world’ – Shastri
How big a victory is this?
In the four years I have been doing this job, if you look at a clinical performance overseas, this has to be the best. South Africa [the Wanderers Test victory] was gutsy, that was a nasty track. But this was clinical. When you look at all three departments, they stood up. As a batting unit, as a catching unit and as a bowling unit.After all the backlash at home following the Lord’s Test, how happy are you with the batsmen coming into form and sort of making a statement?
Was there a backlash at home? Because we don’t read what’s written back home. Yes, disappointed because we ran England close in the first Test match. We are blown away at Lord’s, so we needed to prove a point. And all I asked the boys was to give me some accountability and they were simply magnificent in all three departments of the game.What was said in the change room between the Tests, because for a team 2-nil down to come back is not easy. To mentally keep standing is difficult, so what was said?
Very little practice, mental rest.What was your message to the players?
Clear your heads and show me some accountability.Can you expand on how you wanted the batsmen to apply themselves?
Mental discipline. Get tough mentally. You are going to look ugly. You will have to leave a lot of balls. There is no shortcut. You will have to grind the opposition down when the opposition has Broad and Anderson, who have got close to a 1000 wickets between them playing in their conditions. There is no shortcuts. I don’t care who you are. You have got to tell yourself, if I need a hundred I have to bat five hours. Five-six hours to get a hundred. So you challenge yourself to bat those five-six hours, not one-two hours.Don Bradman’s team is the only team to have won from 2-0 down, Australia’s 3-2 win in 1936-37 Ashes. Is that something you’re going to tell the boys, because it is huge, the relevance of this victory…
1936-37, I wasn’t even born man! Why are you reminding me of ’36-37? One match at a time, we live in the present, okay? One game at a time. Nottingham is over. There’s a break and we move to Southampton and start afresh. Take a fresh guard. 2018.England put India in to bat. Do you think that decision was because they thought they could blow the Indian batsmen away?
I can see where England came from because India had been dismissed so cheaply at Lord’s. They must have thought why not get a crack at India early. And if we [England] can rattle them early and bowl them out on day one, you might have the advantage. But then again, our boys showed a lot of character, withstood that test and came out with flying colours.You would have batted first?
We would’ve batted, yeah.Is this the best pace attack India has ever had?
By a mile. By a mile. No team comes even close.Do you reckon India will have the upper hand going into the last two Tests?
They [India] will be thinking positively, but this is over. Like I said, you start afresh. Take one day at a time and execute your plans to the best of your ability. If you can do that, you will always compete.The message before this Test was mental discipline. What message do you give them now?
Same thing. We have had three back-to-back Test matches. It has been hard. Take a break. Remember all the good things you did in this Test match and take it forward. But remember you have got to start afresh.Can you give us an update on R Ashwin’s fitness?
Ashwin will be okay. The fact that he bowled 20-25 overs clearly suggests it [the hip injury] is not that bad. This break will be ideal for him. If there was a Test match starting in three days’ time, then it would have been a problem.Is Bhuvneshwar Kumar fit and available for selection for the last two Tests?
I have not had a word with the selectors, but they will be picking the side either today or tomorrow.
