Dhaka: If there was one man who seemed to be the most relaxed it had got to be Ravi Shastri. The cricket manager basked in the glory of the five-wicket win, sitting in the company of captain Rahul Dravid and Man-of-the-Match Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

“To win in this fashion, an emphatic fashion in the end… The 100-run partnership at run a ball under pressure was brilliant. I would rather look at the positives than dwell on the negatives,” he summed up the show. “They are a great bunch, the camaraderie is excellent and what you really need is a couple of wins like this to get the guys back on track and play cricket the way they should.”

Will Dhoni’s performance on Thursday confirm him for the No. 3 spot? “Dhoni is a specialist and he can bat at any number,” pat came the reply.

Having seen the players from close quarters, he was all praise for their efforts, especially Dhoni. “They are young players and to show this kind of maturity… it augurs well. The way they played you got to give them credit. I thought they were outstanding in trying circumstances because he had kept for 47 overs and then had to come out and bat and had cramps. But the good thing was he didn’t give it away.”

“I am very satisfied. It was a fighting performance. When you are watching a cricket match, and a side is 144 for five and another 100 plus to get in trying conditions without losing a wicket it can be good entertainment. It shows all the qualities a sportsperson should have to reach the top level. There was concentration, there was discipline, there was fighting spirit and above all there was tremendous self-belief,” he explained.

Was he himself a bit tensed? “I would be lying if I didn’t say I was a bit tensed. But I had belief in the boys and their performance.”

Shastri also did not forget to sound a warning for the home team. “They will play hard cricket. They played hard cricket today and they really had to dig into their reserves to win and that will stand them in good stead. I think Bangladesh will have to play better cricket now if they want to beat India.”

He said there was work still to be done. “There is work to be done in a couple of areas. It was a tough game and I am really proud of the way the guys responded.”