Ravi Shastri: Chopping and changing period is over till World Cup

With just six months left for the tournament to begin, Shastri admitted that in the ODIs against Australia, the team will try to choose those players who will eventually form the final-15 for the World Cup.

Published : Nov 15, 2018 18:55 IST , Mumbai

India coach Ravi Shastri and skipper Virat Kohli address the media in Mumbai.
India coach Ravi Shastri and skipper Virat Kohli address the media in Mumbai.
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India coach Ravi Shastri and skipper Virat Kohli address the media in Mumbai.

Team India head coach Ravi Shastri on Thursday said that the experimenting phase in ODIs is over and that there won't be any 'chopping and changing' with the 2019 World Cup in sight.

With just six months left for the tournament to begin, Shastri admitted that in the ODIs against Australia later this month, the team will try to choose those players who will eventually form the final-15 for the World Cup.

“We will try and play close to those 15 that will go to the World Cup. Chopping and changing period is over now. Now, it is the time to really get focused and play as a unit,” Shastri said during the pre-departure Press conference.

The coach also hoped that there aren’t too many injury concerns in the next few months.

“Hope that we do not have too many injuries so that we have to look elsewhere. There are not too many games now, you have got some 13 games altogether. We will try and play the best team at all times,” the coach said.

The approach in the Test series, will of course be different. “It is the last series that we will play before the World Cup, so the focus will be entirely on that (Test) series,” Shastri added.

Shastri, who had courted controversy in England claiming that this team is the best touring side in the last 15 years, also admitted that the focus of the team will be to play for a win.

“100 per cent. Nothing will change. It’s just that seasoning those tough situations, getting tough mentally when the going gets tough. That’s what we have learnt our lessons. If we take ownership as individuals in situations and act tough mentally, then probably you will do better,” Shastri pointed out.

The team drew flak after it lost Test series in South Africa and England earlier this year, but Shastri felt that there has been a lot of progress across all formats.

“I say that in spite of the scoreline in England. When you look at the actual performances across all three formats, in conditions that are foreign to us, I am more than happy. It is still a learning process,” Shastri said.

He, however, is hopeful; that things will go India’s way if a few things are addressed. “If we learn from the mistakes we made in South Africa and England, then that will put us in good state in Australia,” the coach said.

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