London: India have lost the Test series in England but coach Ravi Shastri insists that the current lot is travelling better than the teams of the last 15-20 years. India lost by 62 runs in the fourth Test at Southampton to go 1-3 down in the five-match series.
“As hard as our guys tried, England were one-up on us there. Nothing to take away (from them), the endeavour of this team is to travel well, compete and win. If you look at the last three years, we have won nine matches overseas and three series (against West Indies and twice in Sri Lanka),” said Shastri here on Wednesday.
“I can’t see any other Indian team in the last 15-20 years that has had the same run in such a short time, and you have had some great players playing in those series. So the promise is there, and it’s just about getting tougher mentally.
“You have got to hurt when you lose matches because that’s when you look within and come out with the right kind of answers to combat such situations and get past the finishing line. One day you will if you believe,” said Shastri.
The head coach underlined the need to grow mentally tougher in order to cross the finishing line and win Test series in overseas conditions, something Virat Kohli had stressed on after the loss at Southampton.
“I think you have got to get tough mentally. We have run teams close overseas and we have been competed. But now it’s not about competing (any longer). We have to win games from here onwards. Now the endeavour is to understand where you made the mistakes, take it head on and try to correct it.
“The scoreline says 3-1, which means India, have lost the series. What the scoreline doesn’t say that India could have been 3-1 or it could have been 2-2, and my teams knows it. They would have been hurt and rightly so after the last game. But this is a team that will not throw in the towel,” he said ahead of the fifth and final Test starting here on Friday.
Shastri said that Moeen Ali was the key difference between the two sides, and he bowled better than R Ashwin, hitting the rough patches more than the Indian off-spinner. While it looks increasingly likely that Ashwin will miss out on the fifth Test, the coach said that the spinner was fully fit when picked in the fourth Test and that Ali simply bowled better.
He also complimented Cheteshwar Pujara for his first innings’ hundred and said that while conditions have been tough for batsmen, they need to find a way to stay in the middle.
When asked about Hardik Pandya’s ability to bat number six, and the need for flexibility in bowling attack, the coach replied, “When you’re young, you’ve got to be thrown into the deep end. You’ve got to persevere and see, if it works or it doesn’t work. If it doesn’t work, there’ll be another option.”
