The Indian cricket team had a mixed outing on the tour of West Indies. Though they won the Test and ODI series, while giving opportunities to plenty of youngsters, the T20I series resulted in a bitter 2-3 defeat. The critics, sensing a big opportunity, haven't shied away from targeting the Indian team. Amid the discussions over Team India's future, veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin shared a quote that India's former skipper MS Dhoni and a few of his coaches told him.
The likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, Mukesh Kumar, etc. got plenty of opportunities on the tour. In fact, it was a landmark moment for Mukesh, who made his debut in all three formats during the series.
While there were some positives, there were a few negatives too, especially in the T20Is. Ashwin, in a video on his YouTube channel, quoted Dhoni as he said shared a beautiful teaching he got from the former captain and a few coaches.
"MS Dhoni and a few coaches of mine have said this: 'When you lose you learn so many things. But people who learn even when they win, will become champions," he said.
Ashwin further went on to speak about the concerning areas in the team, including the batting depth that even the head coach Rahul Dravid had spoken about.
"So, we can learn so many things from this series loss. How can we increase the batting depth? See, there is a debate on this topic itself. How can we increase the batting depth from number 8? That's one thing.
The other thing is how can we improve with the available resources?
"Should we play a bowler just because he will give us a few runs with the bat at number 8, or should we try to improve the batting arsenal of the available bowlers? If a certain bowler can score 5 runs in 4 balls, should we improve his batting skill and make him score those 5 runs in 2 balls? Should we give him that practice instead? Whatever is said and done, this requires personal leadership," he further said.
Ashwin feels even if the players will improve 1 percent with the opportunities given to them, that's promising for the future.
"If they can improve even 1%, it will augur well for our future. If there is role clarity, then everyone will get better individually," he opined.