'It is important to enjoy a period which is tough. Till you enjoy as a group, I don't think there is anything that can stop you.'
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's short yet stirring speech had a simple message for his teammates ahead of a busy season, beginning with the West Indies tour.
"It is important to have fun while you are playing, and if you back each other success will follow you eventually."
His pep talk came after the Indian cricketers enjoyed a 45-minute 'drum bonding' session alongside a bunch of musicians in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Dhoni, who retired from Test cricket in the middle of the away series against Australia in December 2014, will not be part of the squads that will play 17 Tests, including 13 at home, this season, but his words were music to the ears of the youngsters in the room.
"We started 45 minutes back (with the drum session) and most of us agreed that it is the first time we played any instrument. So we can have fun like this; we can have fun in cricket."
Those were Dhoni's initial words.
"Most of us started cricket when we were five. I think this is the period where Indian cricket will move forward. Last two-three years, we were talking about the youngsters getting into the Test arena.
"Now we have a set of batsmen who are into the Test arena, we have a pool of bowlers. I am not taking about two or three batsmen or bowlers, I am talking about a pool of bowlers and batsmen. That is why this coming phase will be very interesting," he added.
During the entire talk, Dhoni stressed on the need for having fun in a pressure cooker environment.
"All of you will not have a very good series, but if you stay together in these 17 Test matches, all of you would be successful. It is important to enjoy a period which is tough. Till you enjoy as a group, I don't think there is anything that can stop you.
"So make sure you have a lot of fun because in Indian cricket it is something we don't do often. Cricket is too much for us. For a lot of us, if you take cricket out of our personal lives, there is not much left. But it is important to have fun. The 45 minutes that we have spent here suggest that we can have fun anywhere in the world. We just the need the company of us," said Dhoni.
