Melbourne, Dec 30: Team India director and former captain Ravi Shastri today said he does not care if the MS Dhoni-led side had lost the Test series against Australia 3-0 or 4-0.
India battled hard to save the third Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Tuesday but the hosts won the four-match series 2-0 with the fourth and final Test to start in Sydney on January 6.
Speaking after the Test, Shastri said he gives two hoots to the results and only mindset to win mattered for him. "I give two hoots if it is 3-0 or 4-0. Only mindset matters. We are going to Sydney (4th Test venue) to win," Shastri told in his post-match comments on "Star Sports". (Kohli breaks Sachin's record)
He went on to add that in 12 months time, India would be back in top 2 in ICC Test Rankings. India, once No. 1 in the rankings, have slumped to 6th.
Shastri said the current side was better than the previous ones in terms of showing hunger to win. However, former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar disagreed with Shastri and countered him by saying all teams had the mindset to win.
Gavaskar termed it 'nonsense' to question the earlier teams' attitude. "To think we backed off is utter nonsense," he said. Gavaskar also cited examples of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and others who always competed to win.
When Gavaskar asked Shastri about the bowlers' continued failures, he said there were no replacements for them and he was not in favour of bringing in players for the sake of changing personnel.
OneIndia News