Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that the days of players cherry-picking series by citing workload management could be over.
As they put up a united front at their first joint media interaction, it was clear that the new head coach and the chairman of the selectors were ready to put their money where their mouths were.
The biggest takeaway from the 27 minute-long Gambhir-Agarkar media interaction ahead of the tour of Sri Lanka was addressing workload management.
;I've said it before, workload management for someone like (Jasprit) Bumrah is important. If you are a batter who is in good form, might as well play all the games,' Gambhir was as straight as ramrod in his reply when asked about his take on the issue.
While acknowledging that a player of Hardik Pandya's skill-set is a rarity, Agarkar made it clear that the selection committee cannot be taken for granted.
Then there was the issue of the Duleep Trophy and Agarkar was clear that if not all, most of the Indian Test team contenders will be playing at least one match of the tournament before India's rare season of 10 Tests commences on September 19.
As Gambhir takes charge of Team India as head coach, he believes he has big shoes to fill as he steps into a role previously held by the likes of Rahul Dravid and Ravi Shastri.
'The most important thing is that they will always have my back. Aim to make it a happy and secure dressing room. I am taking over a very successful team. Runner-ups in WTC and 50-overs WC. I have big shoes to fill and looking forward to it,' Gambhir said.
Gambhir might be perceived as a 'My Way or High Way' man but his messaging was that he wants to be the agent that keeps the dressing room happy.
And what qualifies as a happy dressing room?
'A winning dressing room,' as Gambhir put it.
After the press conference, the Indian team left for Sri Lanka, where they will play three T20Is followed by three ODIs.
The three T20Is will be held on July 27, July 28 and July 30 which will be followed by a three ODIs that will start from August 1. The Pallekele international stadium will host the T20I leg of the series, while the R Premadasa stadium will host the 50 over matches.
