Ravi Shastri has opened up about his tenure as India head coach and team director, explaining how he motivated the side to consecutive series wins in Australia.
Under Shastri, India won their first-ever series win in Australia in 2018/19 and then repeated the feat in 2020/21 despite being without several of their star players. Skipper Virat Kohli flew back to India for the birth of his child after the first Test, in which India had been shot out for 36, while injury ruled out all of Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Hanuma Vihari from some or all of the series. Shastri explained how, in his view, changing India’s mindset was crucial.
“The most important thing is getting among the players and setting a tone from the outset: what you believe in, what you think of them and changing the mindset to compete and win,” he told the Guardian. “You have to be bullish and brutish in wanting to achieve that. For us, and now England, it was about setting the challenge of winning abroad, big time. I was very firm when it came to team culture: all the prima donnas and all that shit, that had to go out of the window early.
“And you leave everything you said as a commentator behind. Park it. When I was the director of the team, it was about diagnosing problems: I was asked to hire and fire, whoever I wanted I could get in and whoever I didn’t could be shown the door. And it was also outlining how we want to play: to be aggressive and ruthless, to up the fitness levels, to get a group of fast bowlers to take 20 wickets overseas. And it was about attitude, especially when playing the Aussies. I told the boys if one single ‘f*** you’ comes your way, give them three back: two in our language and one in theirs.”
Shastri also discussed India’s efforts in England, with Virat Kohli’s side taking a 2-1 lead in the series between the sides in 2021, with the rubber to be completed during the 2022 summer, again citing the importance of mental toughness.
“Mentality and technique trump past records in domestic cricket,” he said. “Get the first two right and the runs will come. It was all about the preparation. We told our batsmen to leave their driving licence behind and learn to leave the ball. Make the bowler bowl to you and you’ll score. Be prepared to bat five hours to get a century in England, it won’t come in three and you’ll get out trying.
“We also had slingers [coaches with dogsticks] in the nets smashing the ball in at 160kph from 16 yards. Guys had no choice. There was no dodging, I’d stand behind the stumps to make sure of that. No matter who the person was, he had to go through that. The slingers would seriously let it rip and guys would look ugly. But you are meant to look ugly in the nets. In England you have to grind and earn your runs.
“The same with the bowlers, we told them to stick in because there is a five-wicket session at any given time in England and at Lord’s and The Oval this decided the result. And we knew winning in Australia or England wasn’t coming with spin, it was fast bowlers, guys with aggression like Jasprit Bumrah. We were instrumental in making sure that guy played Test cricket. You don’t even need express pace, you just need attitude.”
Shastri was first named team director after India were beaten 3-1 in England in 2014, and continued his stint with the side until 2016. The 59-year-old was then appointed as India head coach in 2017 and stepped down after the 2021 T20 World Cup, and has since returned to working as a commentator.
