Chelmsford: Like he has done since taking over, coach Ravi Shastri asserted Wednesday that the current team do not believe in complaining and will not make tough conditions an excuse for their performances in what is expected to be a gruelling five-Test series against England.
There were reports that Indian team management is not happy with pitch and outfield at the Essex county ground, the venue of their only warm-up game that was curtailed to three days owing to heat wave in England.
But Shastri in his inimitable style said his team don’t make such excuses. “My philosophy is very simple – (in) your country, I don’t ask questions. (In) my country, you don’t ask. I said (to groundsmen) leave it (grass), and don’t take anything off,” Shastri said during a media conference here.
“One thing, on this trip, you will never see this Indian team giving an excuse as regarding conditions or the pitch. Our challenge is to beat them. We take pride in performing wherever we go and we want to be the best travelling side in the world. The last person to complain will be this Indian team (sic), so I want to clarify this very clearly,” Shastri reiterated.
Shastri informed that the searing heat was a factor as far as ‘cricketing reasons’ are concerned, and the team wanted better preparation ahead of the first Test starting August 1 at Birmingham.
“The game was reduced from four days to three because of the logistics and the weather prevailing. We had an opportunity to practice three days in Birmingham, which is the Test match venue. If we had played four days here we would have lost that one day there because of travel. So we decided to play here for three days,” Shastri explained.
Shastri said the decision to shorten the game was made during practice Tuesday and was done to have an extra session Sunday at Edgbaston.
We want to go to the Test match venue earlier and have an extra day.
It will give us more familiarity with the venue and the conditionsRavi Shastri