A team victory counts more than anything else – Ravi Shastri

Ravi Shastri has been a household name in Indian cricket - first as an iconic commentator and later as the head coach who helped shape one of India's most dominant run between 2017 and 2021. Under his reign, India secured the historic Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under twice while carving an aura of invincibility around them.

The success that Ravi Shastri reaped, was based on India’s collective brilliance. Talking on the Willow Talk podcast, Ravi Shastri revealed how he managed to get the entire team on the same page despite significant differences between the fitness standards of each individual.

Joining Brad Haddin and Adam Peacock in the show, Ravi said, “You have got to challenge them at times. You know in team sport, you have got to pull together a team, you can’t go in different directions. So that had to be set very early. It’s we, it’s not I. In India, there’s a lot of hero worship, there is a lot of individual records that count. We said to hell with all that. It is what the team does. A team victory counts more than anything else.”

He continued, “You might get hundreds, you might get five hundreds, but if you lose the series or you don’t compete in the series, it’s pointless. Once that message was put across, it started when MS was leading, then everything started falling in place.”

He further added, “You know, even fitness standards had to improve. You know when you looked at Australia, you looked at New Zealand, you looked at England, we were way behind. You had to get up to compete, otherwise you’ll be kings in your backyard but the moment you go outside you’ll be smashed. In order to compete outside, those levels had to be there and it had to be collective and not an individual doing it.”