Shastri’s boldness and self-assurance as team director - his general refusal to take a backward step - cannot have helped but rub off on the side.

India’s confident march to the semifinals of the World Cup may have surprised some observers, but Ravi Shastri is not one of them. Where others saw a team that went through a Test and one-day series without a single win, he saw all along that India had excellent ingredients to work with; it was merely a question of finding the right formula.

Shastri’s boldness and self-assurance as team director — his general refusal to take a backward step — cannot have helped but rub off on the side. In this interview with The Hindu, Shastri speaks of India’s rampaging, unbeaten run in the tournament, the razor-sharp bowling performances, M.S. Dhoni’s wicket-keeping and captaincy, and looks ahead bullishly to Thursday’s semifinal meeting with Australia.

Excerpts:





What has changed after the Test series?

Nothing has changed. It’s a surprise to a lot of people but it’s not a surprise to me. Those who understand their cricket will know how well India played in the Test series. Those who don’t understand their cricket will think India had a very poor series. It is not my job to explain to people who don’t understand as to how that series went.

With a little bit of luck that score-line should’ve been one-all. But what it also did was it taught the players a lot. They learnt a lot from that Test series which is what you want in any team. You want them to learn from their mistakes. I’m not saying there were no mistakes made in the Test series. In fact if we didn’t make mistakes, we’d have won the series. But we’ve learnt from that and all the positives have come out in the World Cup.





What were those positives?

They became more consistent, bowling and batting as a unit. The fielding was extremely sharp. This is where all the coaches — Sanjay Bangar, Bharat Arun and R. Sridhar have to be complimented big-time. Three times India have batted first in the World Cup and three times they’ve got over 300. They’ve bowled out every team and fielded exceptionally well. I’ll go on record to say this is the best Indian fielding team ever.





What has been Bharat Arun’s impact on the fast bowlers?

He’s made them realise what bowling as a unit can do. Just like you need batting partnerships to get over 300, in bowling also you need partnerships. I’m sure he emphasised that fact more than anything else, which led to consistency. It’s not a case of one bowler bowling well. If you look at this World Cup, all five have done their job. All five have put their hands up at various stages, with the Nawab of Calcutta being outstanding. Umesh was excellent in the last game. Mohit has done his job. You have three bowlers bowling at 140 kph; it does make a difference if they’re consistent.





How much have you been impressed by R. Ashwin?

This is the best I’ve seen Ashwin bowl. He has the right pace and right length for Australian conditions and he’s varied it beautifully. Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) has been commendable because he had to recover from a shoulder injury which is never easy.

He stuck to his task and he’s got better and better with every game. M.S. always has Suresh (Raina) to use, if and when needed. He’s been outstanding as a captain. If you look at the way he has marshalled his resources in this tournament, it is amazing.





How big a role has Dhoni played in this success?

Massive. He has maintained the energy levels of the boys on the field. His bowling changes have been inspiring. He has attacked — good, attacking field placings, which allow you to take wickets. What goes unnoticed is his keeping. When it comes to run outs, taking catches, backing up to the stumps, the way he smartly ran out A.B. de Villiers with quick hands from a good throw — all these things go unnoticed.

But his keeping has been exceptionally good. Obviously, being the captain, your captaincy gets noticed more than anything else, which is fair enough. His diving catch to dismiss Soumya Sarkar was quite good... I said to him in the dressing room: ‘Well done, youngster’. Often he doesn’t get enough credit for his keeping. What people don’t realise is that he makes very few mistakes.





How is the mood in the camp ahead of the semifinals?

It is upbeat. We’re not bothered who the opposition is. It’s another game. It’s game number eight and we’ll treat it in that fashion.





Glenn Maxwell has said that he hoped India’s losses to Australia in the summer would play on the team’s minds. Do you think that is a possibility?

That is Glenn Maxwell’s theory. He can keep it to himself. We’re not interested in what he has to say.





The World Cup is within sight now — only two wins away. Do the players feel any pressure looking at it that way?

They’ve played exceptionally well so far. They’ve got to treat it as another game. They’ve got to go out there, enjoy themselves, play fearless, aggressive cricket. They don’t have to change anything just because there is another opposition.