15 September,2018 12:05 PM IST | Mumbai | A Correspondent
Virat Kohli
Head coach Ravi Shastri has backed the current Test team despite suffering a 1-4 drubbing at the hands of England, who won their third consecutive series against India on English soil.
Joe Root's men lifted the Pataudi Trophy at the Oval on Tuesday after winning the fifth and final Test by 118 runs. "I know exactly and clearly where the team is heading - it is heading in the right direction. People are entitled to their opinions. As long as we know the job we are doing and we are honest to our jobs, as long as support staff we are helping players channelise the energies in the right direction, we are not worried about what critics say," Shastri told ESPN Cricinfo amidst some serious criticism of his team.
Ravi Shastri
The former India opener and captain copped criticism and ridicule when he indicated after the Southampton Test defeat that his team could be considered the best travelled Indian side in the last 15 years.
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The comment attracted the attention of pundits and former players who pointed to the Sourav Ganguly era when India won Test matches in West Indies (2001-02), England (2002), Australia (2003-04) and Pakistan (2003-04). Rahul Dravid, who took over as captain from Ganguly led his side to series wins in West Indies (2005-06) and England (2007). India also won their first Test in South Africa during the 2006-07 tour under Dravid's captaincy at Johannesburg where Ganguly, making a comeback, contributed significantly.
While Shastri did not comment on his statement in Southampton, he did stress that India are one team that, "competes all the time." He told the website: "We are the one team. It is just that we need results coming in our favour more often on the winning side. But we are out there competing. And we know it."
Shastri, 56, pointed out that he didn't want to make any excuses for the loss, but the conditions in England were difficult. "Even in my years of coming here as a player, broadcaster and as a coach I have not seen so much movement and seam," said Shastri. He made three tours to England as a player - 1982, 1986 and 1990. He scored centuries in the third and last Test of his last series there.
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