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.

“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, it’s just about getting tougher mentally,” pointed Shastri.

“The scoreline says 3-1, which means India, have lost the series. What the scoreline doesn’t say is that India could have been 3-1 or it could have been 2-2, and my team 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,” the coach said ahead of the fifth and final Test starting here on Friday.

Talking about what the batsmen can do to improve and cross the finish line, he said: “I think shot selection left a lot to be desired. We blew away a very good position straight away after tea on day two (in Southampton). That’s an area where you can tighten, and be aware of what the team needs. Being aware of the match situation will be a big help. I think that was crucial more than anything else.”

“I thought at 180/4, there was a definite chance of a 75-80 run lead, and that would have been crucial. So that hurts.”

Shastri, meanwhile, said 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 the spinner was fully fit when picked for the fourth Test and that Ali simply bowled better.

“Ashwin was fit. You have to give credit to Moeen Ali there on the last day. To be honest, he bowled magnificently,” said Shastri.