Ravi Shastri has reappointed as Team India head coach in August and he was recently seen having a discussion on cricket over a cup of “coffee” with India opener Shikhar Dhawan before the first T20 International against South Africa in Dharamsala on Sunday. India are looking for a positive start in the three-match home series, as they have registered a whitewash against the West Indies in the Caribbean recently.

“Coffee, Mountains, Cricket and Conversation – with @SDhawan25 #TeamIndia #IndvSA,” Ravi Shastri posted the photograph with Shikhar Dhawan on Twitter.

Coffee, Mountains, Cricket and Conversation – with @SDhawan25 🇮🇳 #TeamIndia #IndvSA pic.twitter.com/AaaW1BCG0A

— Ravi Shastri (@RaviShastriOfc) September 15, 2019

Shastri was retained as head coach for another two-year period which will end with the 2021 T20 World Cup in India. This is Shastri’s fourth stint with the national team, having served as the Cricket Manager (2007 tour of Bangladesh), Team Director (2014-2016) and head coach (2017-2019).

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Under his tenure, India became the number one ranked team in the ICC Test rankings and performed exceptionally well in the 2019 World Cup, losing just two games out of the nine matches they played in the group league. India first won in a Test series in Australia too under Shastri as head coach of the team.

Shikhar Dhawan, however, is yet to regain his form as he has been dismissing very cheaply in a series of matches after a World Cup hundred in June, during which he suffered a thumb injury to miss out the rest of the tournament in the UK. In the three-match T20I series against the West Indies, Dhawan scored of 1, 23 and 3 respectively, before scoring only 38 runs in two innings of the three-match One-day International series in the Caribbean. His return in the form will be important for India.