If you thought all the excitement was over with the final ball of India’s Bangladesh journey, Ravi Shastri strode into the media room with some patent one-liners to sign off as he usually does from the commentary box — in style.
The last line from “Ravi da”? “Like I said before, ami tumake bhalo bashi, or whatever.” Read on:
What did you tell the team, after the World Cup disaster?
From the outset, I said very clearly that I want to see you guys enjoy the game. The bottomline was team ethics. We might have 15 individuals in the team, but before the individual, comes the team.
You have obviously enjoyed this honeymoon, thinking of marriage?
I like honeymoons, anyway. The more the merrier. The thing is I was very clear right from the oustet that I would do this job because it was a tough time for India. I was free, but I had made my stand clear with the establishment that I was under a contract with ESPN-Star who are my employers. I am a professional, I believe in work ethics, I believe in contracts.
When you took over, how did you find Team India?
They are a great bunch of guys. I didn’t go to the World Cup, I watched from here only. I kept reading a lot. But what I saw was a brilliant bunch. Camaraderie was fantastic. Not anything I had thought, because of what I had read. When you see these guys play the way they are, enjoying in the dressing room, I see a positive sign.
... contd.