Dhoni doesn’t get the credit he deserves :Ravi Shastri

Ravi Shastri has some enviable results to show in leadership roles. As skipper, he won the only Test he captained India in — vs Viv Richards’ West Indies at Chennai in 1988. When he was appointed captain of the one-day outfit for the 1988 Sharjah Cup, he won that too. In short, India did not lose when Shastri was at the helm for a full ODI series.

As cricket manager for the Bangladesh series after the disastrous 2007 World Cup, he helped put things back on track in the absence of a head coach. More recently, after the 1-3 Test loss to England, Shastri was made Team Director and had an instant effect on his side which was armed with a new-look support staff save head coach Duncan Fletcher, who seems to have Shastri’s backing to continue till next year’s World Cup. Yesterday, the 52-year-old former all-rounder spoke to mid-day about what he thought his team achieved through their 3-1 ODI series win in England. Shastri couldn’t help emphasising the fact that it was a 3-1 result in a four-match series because the first one-dayer at Bristol was washed out.

Absolutely. It was a fantastic bunch which played like a team. They realised what they had done. The first thing that I said was, they’ve showed me India’s greatest Test win overseas (at Lord’s) and then they showed me spineless cricket as well. I don’t hide anything. It must be emphasised that it’s the players and team that have done well. It’s not about me. At the end of the day, the players have to go out and express themselves, which they did brilliantly. It’s something that made me proud as an Indian, proud as a former player.