Ahead of WC quarters, Ravi Shastri says 'bring it on'

Top of their pool, unbeaten, India took a well-deserved day off in Auckland on Thursday ahead of their final match of the first round of the World Cup. Batteries, emotional and physical, were given a chance to recharge, with only Zimbabwe to come ahead of the business end of the tournament, three knockout matches that stand between participation and glory. The breather provided an ideal opportunity for Wisden India to catch up with Ravi Shastri, Team Director and all-round boss man, to take stock of India's campaign.

Excerpts:India came into this World Cup a bit under the radar after what happened in the Australia series. That is no longer the case. How does this change things?

It was under the radar for other people. For us, we had a tremendously competitive series. I keep re-iterating the fact that, with a little bit of luck, the Australia Test series would have been 1-1. So I don't go down that path at all. Yes, the tri-series wasn't great, but I've made my views on that clear as well. It was absolutely unnecessary but we had no choice but to go through the grind once it was on the timetable. I'm not one bit surprised by this performance. This is what I had expected of the players, as individuals, and of the team. What we are looking forward to now is to carry on the good work. Not think too far ahead, but keep the momentum going.

MS Dhoni spoke about how playing against Pakistan in front of a full house, with Indian support, helped. Did that help the team switch on?

I would agree with MS in many ways. It was a massive game and it triggered things off. But the focus has been to enjoy this World Cup. The millions that are watching around the world, and the thousands that come to the grounds, have seen an Indian team really expressing themselves. This is our mantra: go out there and enjoy yourselves. Don't treat this World Cup as a burden, treat it as a carnival. Go out there and have a blast.That must be quite hard to do, given the kind of pressures that are on them?

It's only when you think about those other pressures that you allow them to come into play. I've never been a guy who goes into those negatives. And if there's anyone around me who thinks in that fashion they'll get a kick up the backside. As simple as that. You think that you're going to go out there and enjoy yourself, it will happen.From that attitude comes this kind of performance?

Absolutely. When they're expressing themselves fully, you get to see what they're capable of. Whatever they're doing, they're doing it as a team, whether it is bowling, batting or fielding. They're working together, helping each other. I've always maintained that this is the best Indian fielding side I've seen since I played the game. And I've watched a bit of cricket.

It wasn't that long ago that there were suggestions that one player got into an argument or altercation with another, or that there was a bit of a powerplay for the captaincy. Does this kind of performance also help silence such talk?

For me, that kind of talk was always nonsense. It's a waste of time. It did not give a single one of my players a sleepless night. The one, two or five names that were mentioned in that ... not a single one of them, or anyone else in the squad, buy into that. They did not have time to buy into it, or even read it. Our guys are chilled. No one has time to read such things, and they are not bothered. People can write what they want, this is a thick-skinned team, they give jack.

But, that said, we recently had a situation where Virat Kohli was upset with something that was written and had words with a journalist...

Statements were given on that and the matter is closed. In my opinion, that was overplayed. As far as I am concerned, half of it did not happen.

Even when you were playing, you were a forthright guy. Did you find yourself in a situation where you didn't like something that was written about you? And how did you deal with it?

I never bought a journalist a drink in my playing days. I cared two hoots about what anyone wrote. The way I looked at it, the best way was to treat whatever was written as constructive. When I finished playing, though, I was the first one to buy journalists a drink. Now, you're my colleagues, I'm part of the media, let's sit and have a drink, a chat and a laugh. As a player, I backed myself to do what I knew I was good at and the journalist has a job to do what he's good at. So you cannot mix the two. At times, you might be disappointed when you read the stuff written about you. You know that this is not the truth. But you also develop the mindset that this is part and parcel of your life as a professional cricketer. Everything will not be sugary stuff. You've got to take the rough with the smooth. But, back your own ability. If you can go out there thinking in that fashion and let the bat or ball do the talking, who knows, the journalist who wrote something about you might change his mind. He might walk up to you and say, 'sorry, I got it wrong'.

You just said that the journalist has a job to do. What do you feel is the role the media plays?

I think the role they have is massive. Responsible reporting can go a long way in getting a lot of people to watch the game, getting youngsters to want to play the game. Kids will learn about what their heroes have done and dream of emulating them. The role of the media is very, very important, make no mistake about that.

It's sometimes suggested that the Indian media should support the Indian team more. Do you, or the team, see the media's role as having to support the team?

See, when I was working as a commentator, I saw the media side of things more closely. Now that I am with the team, I don't look at that much. I really don't know. You're asking the wrong person. If I was on the other side, and not a part of the team set up, I could've given you this answer. I've just blanked myself out for now.

For a while this bowling attack has not been able to get it right, despite getting good counsel and wanting to improve. What is it that has flipped the switch?

When the bowlers don't do well, people say: fire the bowling coach. When the runs don't come, people say: fire the batting coach. When catches are dropped, people say: fire the fielding coach. So, all I say now, why not give credit where it's due? The respective coaching staff - whether it is Duncan Fletcher, B Arun, R Sridhar or Sanjay Bangar - should be commended for doing an outstanding job.

The bowling has been the biggest surprise. In what way has Arun made a difference?

You learn. He did not inherit bowlers who have played 100 Test matches. He inherited a very inexperienced attack and he needed time to understand what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are, and what he could work on. The important thing is, when the big moment comes, like a World Cup, get the players ready. And he has done exactly that. So you have to give credit to Arun.

There's also someone like Shikhar Dhawan. He came into the tournament short of runs, but you said back then that he would be a star in this World Cup...

You will call it bravado. It's not bravado. Having played cricket, having watched cricket as a professional, having been there myself, I know the difference between a guy being out of form and a guy who is ... (snaps fingers) just a flick away from shocking everybody.

Through the Australia tour, I never thought Shikhar was out of form. Whenever he made a mistake, and got an edge, it went straight to hand. Before that he middled everything. It was not like he was beaten three times in an over or he was scratching around against (Mitchell) Johnson or (Mitchell) Starc.

One false shot, and he was gone. I knew, from experience, as a player, that a big innings was around the corner. Something big is always in the offing when this is the situation.

Every batsman in the line-up has had a decent hit, got runs. How important is this going into the quarterfinals?

It's very important. When a team is doing well, you don't want it to be because one guy is carrying the team. You want six-seven players firing at all times. With the real test coming up, the quarterfinal, it's good that every player in the eleven has played his part. That is a massive help.

The Pakistan game was a big, emotional one, but India have had the wood over them in World Cups. In that sense, South Africa were a bigger cricketing test...

Again that came because of a team performance. Shikhar batted outstandingly well, deep into the innings, which helped. And then you saw some electricity in the field. The bowling and fielding backed the batting.

You were talking about going under the radar? What has really gone under the radar in this World Cup is the captaincy of MS. He has been outstanding. People have often suggested that India have only done well at home under him ... I've always said, he's India's best ever captain, especially in One-Day Internationals.

There's no comparison with anyone else, there's no one near. His achievements, and the way he marshalls his resources, there is no one else who comes close. He's sharp, he's quick, he's always on the ball. And, he does all that without any fuss, without going noticed, which is brilliant.

A good example of that was the last game, against Ireland, when Dhoni pressed Plan B into play early on...

He's always been proactive. The best of him is yet to come. He's going to hurt somebody very badly with the bat as well. But, to be honest, we don't want him to bat.

That means we're doing well. If or when he does get an opportunity, you watch what he does.

Would it be fair to say that while the batting has done the job, there's more to come from this line-up? That they can go bigger?

What you want is consistency. You can aim for the sky. But, what you want is good, solid, consistent cricket that wins you matches. We've done that so far, and all that's needed is to keep this up, taking it one match at a time.

This team does not believe in thinking too far ahead. The reason we have been successful is because we approach every game as a knockout, and we give it that importance. Whether it is UAE or South Africa, it is just another team that is trying to beat us. It's another match. The opposition does not matter.

In this World Cup, there has been a tendency for some teams to overcomplicate things. In Auckland, the talk is about short straight boundaries, in Melbourne, the large outfields, in Wellington, the wind ... How much of India's success is down to just keeping things simple?

You have to keep things simple. When you have clarity of thought, that's when you play your best cricket. Why complicate things?

Is this something you have stressed?

Absolutely. My mantra from day one was: clarity of thought, keeping things simple and enjoying yourself on the field. In what other place will you get 100,000 people watching you? If you can't appreciate that and enjoy that, what's the point of playing? If you can't take joy out of this, where will you take joy from?The field restrictions, with only four outside the circle, have resulted in some big runs being racked up in the death. Some have complained about this, others, such as Brendon McCullum, have hunted wickets and set aggressive fields, and this has not mattered...I'm not even thinking about such things. Why think of four or five fielders outside the circle when you're playing good cricket? Whatever the rules are, they're the same for everyone, and you have play within that framework and win. Go out there and do your job. Let others think about such things. When you're thinking only about playing good cricket and winning matches, you have no time to think about such things.In terms of the quarterfinal, some teams might prefer to play a specific opponent. Have you had such thoughts?No, no, no, no. We will treat it as just another match. Because we give our best in every match. Whichever team we play, we're not thinking about that. There has been no conversation along these lines.

All teams in this tournament have had a fair bit of travel, and some tricky scheduling. Has this played a part?

This entire World Cup, if the span could be brought down by a week or ten days, it would have been much better. I know the logistics of the number of grounds you need, the pressures of hosting a global tournament in two countries are huge. But, a more compact tournament would have been ideal. At times, the waiting between matches is killing. You just want to get on with it.