No team travels well nowadays, why pick on India, questions coach Shastri

Brisbane: India are yet to shed their “poor travellers” tag but coach Ravi Shastri feels that it’s unfair to pick on India when most of the nations have fared poorly on away tours.

India have lost two away Test series in 2018, against South Africa (1-2) and England (1-4).

Asked how important it is for India to win the Australia series, Shastri said: “You have got to learn from your mistakes. When you go overseas and when you look at teams that travel around now, there aren’t too many sides that travel well.

“Australia did for some time in the 90’s and during the turn of century. South Africa did it for a while and other than these two, in the last 5-6 years, you tell me which team has travelled well. Why pick on India?” questioned Shastri.

Shastri refused to believe that Australian team has lost its aura after what all happened during the past few months.

“I don’t think so. I think once you have a sporting culture in you, you will always have that. I have always believed that no team is weak at home. We might have three or four players not playing when a team comes to India God forbid but if anyone thinks it’s a weak team, you will be surprised.”

“Similarly, we are taking no prisoners and we want to go out and put our best foot forward, focusing on our game rather than focusing outside,” he said.