Ravi Shastri's pep talk has worked wonders for Shikhar Dhawan: Indian team official

Ravi Shastri giving advice to Shikhar Dhawan

According to a senior member of the Indian Team’s support staff, Shikhar Dhawan’s success can be attributed to Team Director Ravi Shastri. He said that Shastri gave Dhawan precious advice before the World Cup and that has done wonders for the swashbuckling opener.

“Shastri’s speeches have worked wonders for Dhawan”

The team official said on the condition of anonymity, “Before the World Cup started, Ravi had a lengthy session with Shikhar and gave him a pep talk. Those of us, who have seen Ravi address the players from time to time would swear by his passionate speeches. It worked wonders for Dhawan as everyone can see.”

He said that Shastri’s advice isn’t about cricket or any technical matters as there are plenty of coaches in the Indian management who cater to that, but it has more to do with the player’s mind and giving them time.

“Ravi does not talk on cricketing matters or about any technical problems that the players might be facing. Ravi made one thing clear to the players. There is a chief coach Duncan Fletcher and three assistant coaches in Sanjay Bangar, Bharath Arun and R. Sridhar. Any technical problem will be addressed by the quartet.

“For him, it’s about giving time to the players, understanding what’s going through their mind. In case of Shikhar, Ravi told him that he should just play in the manner that has got him runs all these days.”

Shikhar Dhawan is the 7th highest run-getter at the World Cup and the highest Indian in the list. He has scored 337 runs at an average of 56.16 in the tournament which include two centuries – 137 against South Africa and 100 vs Ireland.

“Dhoni remains quiet during team meetings”

The official also revealed that the talking during team meetings is done mainly by Duncan Fletcher and Bharath Arun, and captain MS Dhoni, like his teammates, prefers to keep quiet during these meetings.

“The players normally don’t speak a lot at the team meetings. It’s normally Duncan or Bharath Arun, who addresses the players and also reveal the homework done by them.

“Dhoni normally keeps quiet at team meetings. I have not seen him speak much at the team meetings. But yes, he does address the team during the huddles. Normally, it’s Virat or M.S. who address the team but anyone can express their view at team huddle,” he concluded.