Defending team India’s "poor travelers" tag, head coach Ravi Shastri said that it's unfair to pick on the Indian squad when most of the nations have fared poorly on away tours. The head coach also said that despite Australia's new polite approach, skipper Kohli won’t tone down his aggressive approach as he is quite passionate about the game.
India is all set to play three T20s, four Tests and three ODIs against Australia starting November 21 at Gabba, Brisbane. The four-match Test series between the two teams is scheduled to take place on December 6 at Adelaide.
India have lost two away Test series in 2018, against South Africa (1-2) and England (1-4). This was after both tours were seen as best chance for Virat Kohli's men to set the poor overseas record straight.
In 2014-15, Indian won the T-20 series 3-0 against Australia but lost the five-match ODI series 1-4.
Asked how important it is for India to win the series in Australia, 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 five-six years, you tell me which team has travelled well. Why pick on India?" questioned Shastri.
Questioned whether he or skipper Kohli has spoken to the team as to why they lost in South Africa and England, Shastri said that it was all about "seizing big moments".
"We have spoken about seizing the big moments. If you look at the Test matches, the scoreline really doesn't tell you the real story. There were some real tight Test matches and we lost some big moments badly, which cost us the series at the end of it.
"It could have been an hour in a session over four days whether it was SA or England. Either as a batsman or a bowler and see what happens after that," the coach said in his team's defence.
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.
No team travels well nowadays, why pick on India, questions Shastri