Mumbai: Former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly said that the transformation of the Indian cricket team began with players having confidence in their own abilities. “We were a bunch of talents but we did not know how to win Test cricket. That culture needed to change. India always had great batsmen, but we needed fast bowlers who could take 20 wickets,” he said.

BCCI CEO Rahul Johri said that the cricket body’s job was to give the cricketers best infrastructure. “Based on the feedback received from them, we have ensured that when the Team goes to England this summer, they play the first after spending almost a month there,” he said.

He also said that BCCI is planning a five-year-long calendar scheduling every tournament in advance. “So you will know which tournament is happening when in next five years,” he said.

Recounting his success during the recent tour of South Africa, vice-captain of Indian cricket team Ajinkya Rahane said that the key to success was thinking that they were playing in home ground. “In Johannesburg, I had the opportunity to become and hero and I played with a lot of discipline,” he said.

Sourav Ganguly had another explanation behind Rahane’s success. “He bats at no 5 in Test as I also did. Batting at no 5 and 6 in India is the most dangerous, but it’s the reverse outside the country. That’s the reason No 5 batsmen do well abroad,” said Ganguly.

Captain of the Under 19 World Cup winning Indian team Prithvi Shaw said that he had miles to go and this was just a beginning of his career.

Ganguly appreciated the BCCI’s decision to raise the match fee of the domestic cricketers from Rs 10,000 a day to Rs 35,000 and demanded that the fee must be raised further.

“We are the best team in all formats. The central contract focuses on domestic cricket because that's the bedrock of Indian cricket. Now players get their fee on match day and don’t have to wait for one and a half year,” said Johri.

Rahane also praised his captain Virat Kohli and said that he did not want to change Virat’s aggression as it got the best out of him.

Ganguly added that the domestic structure of Indian cricket has improved the quality of Indian team and it now has bowlers who can take 20 wickets. Shaw said that he would like to lift the senior world cup some day.