Indian Cricket Team coach Ravi Shastri on his arrival in India came out all guns blazing against his detractors. Shastri in his second term as the head coach after the unceremonious exit of Anil Kumble has gone about his task in his own flamboyant manner. He has had those odd run-ins with the media but this time he brought another dynamic to it by suggesting people drive pleasure out of the failure of the Indian team. What must have prompted Shastri to come up with such that sharpening notes that has not gone down well within the cricketing circles?

India’s emphatic series win in South Africa in the shorter formats of the game was certainly one of the golden moments in the history of Indian Cricket Team. Not only did the team beat South Africa for the first time in their own backyard, the sheer dominance the Men in Blue had over the Proteas brought great joy to the fans. After the setback in the Test series (they lost 2-1), it was important for Virat Kohli and his men to come up with a response and response is what India came up with! All the hard work of the past one year risked being undone. Playing for India means being under the constant scrutiny of media, critics and fans and a loss quickly makes things go out of hand. Hence the character displayed by the team under such circumstances has to be lauded.

If we take a look at the record of the head coach and his management team in the second stint, there certainly have been more hits than misses. After the loss in the first two Tests, the team was criticized for being no different from those that had toured South Africa in the past. Playing in the fast swinging condition the batsmen looked out of sorts and India failed to register any big total. The fans questioned everything from team selection to field placement, which is not new for an Indian team, be it the old or the current generation.

It was after the win in the Johannesburg Test did the feel-good factor come back in the team. It was as if the tide had reversed and there was no dearth of lengthy praises for Virat and his boys. It is this comeback that provided Ravi Shastri with the launch pad for tearing into his critics. He may or may not be right in his assessment that fans love watching Indian team lose, but he does have a case when he says the test series was an extremely close affair decided by one or two close sessions in the first two tests that his team could not capitalize. Talking about the Test series, it is pretty evident that the South African batsmen too struggled on the seaming pitches. There is certainly a strong argument for an Indian win in the first two Tests had the home side batted fourth instead of India.

Another point that has got the coach riling is the constant attempt made by a section of media to undermine India’s win in past few series. The success behind these series had been attributed to the quality of opposition rather than the performance of his team. Ravi Shastri asserted that how on earth has his team got to do with what players the opposition team fields. The apparent failure of the South African board to replace the injured AB de Villers, Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock with experienced players and the subsequent hammering in the ODI and T20 series was labelled as a defeat for a weakened Proteas side. These conclusions must be disappointing for any coach as the maximum he can do is coach his side to a win. But to see that not even a win satisfies the same critics who latch on to any defeat of his must be very frustrating. A few months back before the start of South Africa, the talk doing the rounds was India could only win at home and that too against weak opposition. Well, it is definitely not the fault of the men in blue if they make teams look inferior in front of them. The outburst seems legitimate as Ravi Shastri’ narrative does pack a punch with those who have come across it.

While it is important for fans and media to come up with constructive criticism of the cricket played by Virat’s men, it is important to understand that overdoing things creates undue pressure on players and management alike. After a certain point of time, the players might feel demotivated as their efforts are overshadowed by bizarre logic and silly arguments. The continuity of this trend has the potential to strain the relationship between the players and media.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 01, 2018 08:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).