Press Trust of India
Mirpur, March 5: The excitement of being in the Asia Cup final might be palpable in the Bangladesh camp but for India, Sunday’s summit clash would be just another game in the tournament according to team director Ravi Shastri.
“They (Indian players) are experienced players and they should treat this as just another game. Our approach to every team and every game has been the same,” Shastri said here Saturday. “We have been playing ‘fearless cricket’ and we need to do just that. Right from the start, we have approached every game as a knock-out match. The final will be no different for us,” he added.
There were no specific or elaborate answers given by Shastri during his brief interaction with the media. He however, said having won a tough game against Bangladesh in the tournament’s first match will help his side in the final.
“That was (first match) a good game. It was a good win where we were under pressure till the first 10 overs of our bowling effort. It’s about how you balance things out in batting and bowling. We did an excellent job in that game,” the TD pointed out.
During his interaction Shastri stated that with India batting very deep, the lack of form of Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina was not something to be worried about.
“We bat deep, someone will definitely get the runs,” Shastri stated. “There is the notion that we are Virat (Kohli) dependant. No not at all. Virat is the No. 1 batsman of the side… but then from the Australian tour, Rohit has got runs, Shikhar and Raina have also got runs, when required MSD has contributed. Even (Hardik) Pandya has chipped in. I don’t see a collective batting failure,” Shastri asserted.
Shastri also played down the pitch factor that has been discussed quite a bit during this tournament. “Pitches are not in our hands. I was asked before the start of the tournament what will India do when you get a green top? So be it. So whatever track is on offer tomorrow (Sunday), we are ready to play,” he said.
