Team India Director Ravi Shastri has described the Australia series as his ‘most successful tour’ despite losing the four-match Test series 2-0 earlier this year and insisted that ‘hard lessons’ learned during the tour will prove beneficial for his side in the near future.
“For me the most successful tour was the tour of Australia. Two years down the line you will know where I am coming from. The result was 2-0 down. Then we had great World Cup, but the lessons learnt on that tour were hard to learn and that is being put into practice which I am really heartened to see,” Shastri said during a press conference on the fifth day of Team India camp at National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.
Ahead of the 72-day long series against South Africa, the former India skipper labelled the tourists as ‘stiff opposition’ but insisted that passionate young Indian side wouldn’t take any backward steps in their approach.
“We have to respect the fact that South Africa are number one team in the world. They play well in overseas conditions better than any other side in world cricket. We know that what we are up against but we will not take any backward steps,” he added.
Earlier this month, India ended a 22-year series drought in Sri Lanka when the Virat Kohli-led side clinched the three-match Test series 2-1.
India will play three-match T20 International series against South Africa starting on October 2 at Dharamsala, before locking horns in the five-match ODI and four-Test series.
