No more chopping and changing till World Cup: Ravi Shastri
Mumbai, Nov 15: India coach Ravi Shastri Thursday said that there won't be any more "chopping and changing" with the ODI side with just 13 matches remaining before the opening World Cup game against South Africa on June 5.
Shastri indicated that from now on, they will be playing around those 15 players, who are going to board the UK bound flight.
"We will try to play (those) 15, who will go to the World Cup. Chopping and changing is over now. The grace period is over now," Shastri made it clear during the pre-departure press conference ahead of the Australian tour.
"Now it is the time to really get focussed and play as a unit and then hopefully not have too many injuries, so that we don't have to look elsewhere and take it from there.
"We don't have too many games now. We have 13 games, so we will look to play the best team at all times," he added.
The 13 games include three-match away series against Australia followed by five-match series against New Zealand and then a return five-match series against Australia at home early next year.
India will play a four-match Test series beginning on December 6 at Adelaide and Shastri said that the visitors will have to learn from their experience in South Africa and England to challenge Australia.
"I see a lot of progress across all formats and I say that in spite of the (series) scoreline in England. When you look at actual performances in conditions that are foreign to us, we are more than happy," he said.
The coach is hopeful that players have learnt from their mistakes of previous tours.
"It is a learning process. If we learn from the mistakes that we made in South Africa and England, it will hold us in good stead in Australia.
"Test cricket obviously is different, it is the last series that we play before the World Cup. So the focus will be entirely on the series.
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Ceasefire or not, India must pursue terrorists responsible for Pahalgam attack: Owaisi
Hyderabad, May 11 (PTI): With India and Pakistan agreeing to an immediate ceasefire, Owaisi said, truce or not, India must continue to pursue those behind the Pahalgam terror attack.
In a post on X, the Hyderabad MP said he wished Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the ceasefire rather than the President of a foreign country (US).
"#Ceasefire or no ceasefire we must pursue the terrorists responsible for #Pahalgam attack", he said adding as long as Pakistan uses its territory for terrorism against India, there can be no permanent peace.
Owaisi said he always stood by the government and the armed forces against external aggression and this will continue.
The AIMIM chief thanked the armed forces for their bravery and commendable skill.
He paid homage to Army jawan, M Murali Naik, ADDC Raj Kumar Thapa and prayed for all the civilians who were killed or injured during the conflict.
Owaisi expressed hope that the ceasefire would bring much-needed respite to people living in border areas.
He also urged Indians and political parties to reflect on the past two weeks. "India is strong when it is united; our enemies benefit when Indians fight Indians."
However, he said he had some questions and hoped the government would provide clarity on the matter.
"I wish our PM @narendramodi had announced the ceasefire rather than the President of a foreign country. We have always been opposed to third party intervention since Simla (1972). Why have we now accepted it? I hope the Kashmir issue will not be internationalised, as it is our internal matter", he said.
He sought to know why India was agreeing to hold talks on a neutral territory and sought clarity on the agenda of these discussions.
"Does the United States guarantee that Pakistan will not use its territory for terrorism?," he asked.
Owaisi questioned if the government succeeded in its objective of deterring Pakistan from carrying out future terror attacks. "Was our goal to get a Trump-brokered ceasefire or was it to bring Pakistan to such a position that it would not even dream of another terror attack?," he asked.
The AIMIM leader said India must persist with its effforts to have Pakistan placed on the FATF grey list.
