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- 'South Africa are a stiff opposition. They play well in overseas conditions better than any other side in world cricket.'
- 'Dhoni has done the dirty work for donkey's years. Give him a chance to enjoy himself.'
India's Team Director Ravi Shastri on Friday said that South Africa are still a formidable side despite the retirement of some big players recently but his side will continue their aggressive brand of cricket in the upcoming series beginning on October 2.
"It is like asking me about Indian team without (Sachin) Tendulkar, V V S Laxman, Anil Kumble - players will come and go, but you got to respect the fact that South Africa are the world number one side," Shastri said on the sidelines of the Indian team's camp at the National Cricket Academy when asked about the visiting side who are coming without the likes of retired Jacques Kallis.
"South Africa are a stiff opposition. They play well in overseas conditions better than any other side in world cricket. They travelled better than any other team and records will show that. And so we what we are up against. The respect is there but we will not take any backward steps," he added.
India play a four-match Test series along with a three-match Twenty20 and a five-game ODI series on what is the Proteas' longest ever sub-continent tour.
The more than two-months' long tour will begin with a 50-over practice game at Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla, followed by three T20 Internationals (October 2, 5 and 8), five ODIs (October 11, 14, 18, 22 and 25) and four Tests to be played in Mohali, Bangalore, Nagpur and Delhi.
In between the visiting South African team will also play a two-day game against Indian Board President's XI in Mumbai on October 30-31.
Shastri brushed aside any talk of Mahendra Singh's possible rustiness to lead the side against South Africa in the limited over matches. India last played an ODI in June in Bangladesh and Dhoni -- who has retired from Test, led the side.
"No problem at all. You are talking about a season campaigner, one of the legends, one of the all-time greats in world cricket and not only of Indian cricket, you know I am saying as a captain. He (Dhoni) takes over a job he has been doing and so it is nothing new," Shastri said.
"Everything fits into place automatically. For the team there is no difference, they played under him in the World Cup. The last time they played an ODI, they played under M S (Dhoni) in Bangladesh. What is the difference, they are playing under a champion. What else do you want!," he said.
On being quizzed if Dhoni should bat up the order, Shastri said the captain himself will take a call on the day.
"Don't you think it is about time? He has done the dirty work for donkey's years. Give him a chance to enjoy himself. You are talking of probably the greatest ODI captains and players. Don't worry about M S (Dhoni) he will decide on the day whether to bat up the order," he said.
Shastri said that no batsman in the Indian team is in the comfort zone and they should be prepared to bat in any position.
"Nobody is in a comfort zone. As a batsman in the top order you should be prepared to bat anywhere as the team demands. Now these were unforeseen circumstances, otherwise they would not have to do it... like we had to face when Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan both were injured," said Shastri.
The unavailability of Dhawan and Vijay in the recent Test series in Sri Lanka prompted the team management to send Cheteshwar Pujara to open the innings and he lapped up the opportunity by scoring a superb hundred in Third Test.
Shastri also made it clear that the five bowler theory adopted in Test by Virat Kohli is not a permanent strategy and team combination will depend on the playing conditions and the rivals.
"No, it (five-bowler theory) is not a permanent strategy. You have to respect the conditions. In this game of cricket you cannot go in and say that I am going to go with this team. It will backfire on you if the conditions are totally different," he said.
"So, you might need six batsmen, you might need four and a half bowlers, you might need just a bowler to do the job to give the main bowlers a rest. You have to play according to the conditions and play to the opposition. It is important to study the opposition you are up against and then decide what should be the best combination of your team," he added.
Asked if it makes a difference that he and his support staff have been assured of their jobs till the end of World Twenty20 in March next year, Shastri said, "Absolutely. Take your job. If your boss tells you 'You are here for just a month, and after a month I will decide if you carry on with your job', how will you feel? Very simple."
Shastri and the assistant coaches -- Bharat Arun (bowling), Ramakrishnan Sridhar (fielding) and Sanjay Bangar (batting) -- had their contracts renewed on a series-by-series basis before their contract was extended until the end of World Twenty20.