Shastri urges buoyant India to maintain consistency in World T20

Kolkata : Indian cricket team director Ravi Shastri has called on his side to continue their rich vein of form heading into the World Twenty20, insisting that the hosts need to display consistent performance to lift the T20 format’s pinnacle event. “We are not a team of individuals. We are the Indian cricket team. Virat (Kohli) has been in an outstanding form, so as Rohit (Sharma). MS (Dhoni) has done a great job lower down the order, Yuvraj (Singh) has struck form, Shikhar (Dhawan) has had his moments. To win big tournaments, you cannot have one individual winning it for you. You need about seven or eight performing consistently,” Shastri told reporters on the eve of the first warm-up game against West Indies. India have been on a rollicking form since the beginning of the year, winning 10 of their last 11 T20 games, including Asia Cup title. However, the former all-rounder urged his side to treat every game as an important game. “Every game is important from here. We need to maintain a level of consistency and treat every game as an important game. The Asia Cup was a very good preparation because conditions were such it was not easy for the batsmen,” he said.