Mid Day

Kolkata, May 7: "I’m not a guy who dwells on the past. I am not a guy who thinks too far ahead either,” said Ravi Shastri a day before leaving for the Bangladesh tour.

He was addressing the media because an injured Rahul Dravid was unable to attend the press conference.

All in the past

The past here meant the World Cup debacle.

It is not sure how the team would entirely forget the thrashing and start afresh. As Shastri later himself admitted, “after the World Cup it is not only the people of India who are disappointed.

Players are more disappointed than anybody else. Make no mistake about that. They will want to prove a point.”

So what did they gain from the five-day camp in Kolkata? “I like to focus on the present and the focus at the camp was to enjoy the game…

“I didn’t like the way they (the Indian team) played over the last six months,” he said, “it was as if they were doing a desk job sitting behind a computer from nine to five.”

This is when a googly came from the Bengali mediapersons present. Were they enjoying despite getting injured, one of them asked.

That’s when Shastri showed he was in control and knew how to handle tricky queries. “Getting injured is a part of the enjoyment process.

This is cricket

“This is not a game of marbles; it is a sport and you are bound to get injured.” Somewhere therein could be a message for the team to play tough, and also an insight into his general approach.

Shastri refused to as much as touch any questions that could get controversial answers.

He said the contracts issue was not his business, or if someone wanted to know what advise he gave Sachin Tendulkar or Sourav Ganguly, he said they could go ask the concerned players.

“These are team strategy matters and not for public consumption.”

Shastri may not be the coach or cricketing manager for long as he has been appointed only for the Bangladesh tour, but the way he has blocked all the controversial questions, we might be on to something.

If he keeps up the trend, he will at least leave a suitable example for the new coach to follow up on.