Ravi shastri

'We've have had to dig deep. We've had to go down every hole that's needed to find water and we found it.' IMAGE: India head coach Ravi Shastri has a bowl in the nets. Photograph: BCCI India breezed into the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) following their 3-1 series victory against England on Sunday but head coach Ravi Shastri is still bitter how the qualifying rules were changed last year. The nine top Test teams were originally scheduled to play six series each over two years in the WTC, with the top two making the showcase final in London. … [Read more...] about India coach Shastri still bitter about WTC rule change

There are 19 players available for selection and with two in contention for each slot, the XI for the five games, starting here on Friday, will be an indication to how head coach Ravi Shastri, captain Virat Kohli and bowling coach Bharat Arun are looking at the next six to seven months for the shortest format. Will they look for a settled combination to first clinch the series and then experiment or will they field absolute rookies in the squad looking at the bigger picture? For a team that's so closely followed, the result does matter and that's why one can expect a settled first eleven for the first three games since all matches are at the same venue on similar kinds of tracks. The roaring comeback of Rishabh Pant will lead to a lot of interesting developments at the top of the order. Pant's inclusion means that KL Rahul, who till a few months back was the first choice keeper-opener, is unlikely to don the big gloves. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma were a settled white ball … [Read more...] about India vs England: T20 Dilemmas: Tough calls between Dhawan/Rahul, Chahar/Bhuvneshwar, Shreyas/Surya

It was back to the tried and tested methods as India’s practitioners of the slow-art, especially R. Ashwin and debutant Axar Patel, helped Virat Kohli’s men clinch a 3-1 Test series triumph over England. India’s innings and 25-run victory in the fourth Test at Ahmedabad , concluded a series that was largely one-sided barring England’s win in the opening encounter at Chennai . Like it did in Australia, India shrugged aside the early loss and turned around its fortunes in riveting fashion. The pitches on offer, especially for the third game, may not have been ideal, tending to age faster besides providing the obvious impetus to spin. Despite the surface-tension, the strips were in no way diabolical like some of the 22-yards offered in the past, especially in the 1980s when a few pitches made batting arduous. In the latest series, after skipper Joe Root’s double ton in Chennai set the stage for an England ambush, a stung India mounted a fiery comeback and ensured that the Englishmen … [Read more...] about Slow and steady: On India’s Test series win against England