India far from ready for the 2019 World Cup, Says Ravi Shastri

Despite convincing series victory in South Africa, Team India head coach Ravi Shastri remarks more has to be done. He maintains the work is still in progress for the 2019 World Cup.

For the very first time, India has registered a historic series victory across formats in South Africa.

On the eve of the final ODI at the SuperSport Park in Centurion, Shastri spoke to ToI. However, in all probability, India have found their core in the lead up to the ICC’s coveted event.

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“We’re far from ready. This is a great win. But there’s a lot of work to do over the next few months,” Shastri said.

In the upcoming months, India is slated for a tour of England and Australia.

Shastri said that the team management was not convinced with the way middle-order. He believes the major concern has to be solved at the earliest.

“It’s an area that requires work to be done. The top-order has batted beautifully. Our bowlers were phenomenal, but the fifth, sixth and the seventh slot in the batting order needs to be worked upon. We’ll have to sit down and weigh all options once again very carefully,” Shastri asserts.

Despite Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s indifferent form, Ravi Shastri is of the opinion that he is still a priceless proposition for the team.

“I’ll be the first to admit our middle-order batting has looked ordinary. We failed to convert good starts into big totals. So, there are factors we’re looking at,” Shastri added.

Shastri also credited the Indian wrist spinning duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav for their exceptional effort. They ended the series with 33 wickets between them which is simply phenomenal.

“(Yuzvendra) Chahal and (Kuldeep) Yadav have been brilliant and Boom (Jasprit Bumrah), what can I say about him. It’s been a fantastic effort. As I said, we’ll sit and go through all of this once we’re done here,” says Shastri.

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