India Have The Potential To Become One Of The Best Travelling Teams, Says Ravi Shastri

India coach Ravi Shastri, ahead of the first of the five-match Test series against England, said that India have the potential to be of the best travelling teams. Reiterating his point, Shastri said that the team showed good signs in South Africa and they will want to carry the form forward. However, Shastri said that the real challenge lies in performing consistently in red-ball cricket. "We have done exceptionally well in white-ball cricket. We showed some very good signs in South Africa as far as the red ball is concerned. We want to carry that forward," Shastri was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

"The challenge for us is to be consistent in the red-ball format overseas. We believe we have the potential to be one of the best travelling teams. At the moment, there is no side in the world that travels properly. We know our scorelines in England before this tour: 4-0 [2011], 3-1 [2014]. We want to do much better than that," Shastri further added.

Commenting on what makes the current team equal contenders in the Test series, Shastri said, "We have a bowling attack that can take 20 wickets. We are not bothered by what conditions we play in. We have the variety but we need to execute our plans in the best possible manner. And bat well, which is important. Our batting let us down in South Africa."

However, Shastri mentioned that India have to play a fearless brand of cricket in order to win the series.

"We are aggressive. We play to win. Even in this series, we are playing to win. We are not here to draw games or fill in the numbers. We play every game to win and take the game forward. And if in trying to win we lose a game, tough luck. As long as we win more than we lose, we are happy," Shastri concluded.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team England Cricket Team Virat Kohli Ravi Shastri England vs India, 2018 Cricket