Steve Waugh not sure if current Indian side is “best in last 15 years”

Steve Waugh feels that Australia, despite recent ups and downs, would be hard to beat in their own den

Ravi Shastri, the Indian head coach, gave a statement during the England Test series which left several cricket pundits scratching their heads. He said that the current Indian side is “the best in the last 15 years.” While Kohli & his men lost the rubber 1-4 to the Englishmen, Shastri’s comment remains in focus, especially, ahead of the Australia tour.

Meanwhile, former Aussie skipper Steve Waugh is “not sure” about what the Indian head coach uttered. He said, “Look I have played against some great Indian sides and I am not sure that the current side is better than the ones we played against.”

Waugh understands that Shastri wanted to boost his team’s morale but he felt that sweeping comments could have been avoided.  

“I am not really sure but probably not a great thing to say as it puts extra pressure on the team. Once they start losing, they will get a lot of criticism for that. Look, it's good that Ravi Shastri believes in his side but comments like these could be kept to himself,” Waugh said.

The former skipper known for his mental disintegration tactic feels that Australia, despite recent ups and downs, would be hard to beat in their own den. 

“Australia will be hard to beat in Australia. We have a bowling attack as good as any team in world cricket and we can take wickets. It's our batting if we score 350 runs in first innings; I think we will be very hard to beat. And someone will always come and do well and that's the nature of the sport.

“I am still pretty confident that we can win in Australia but it's going to be a close series though," Waugh said about upcoming Test series.

Like everyone else, he praised Virat Kohli for his supreme consistency comparing him with Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar.

“He is a great player and he loves these big moments. He is like Tendulkar and Lara. They wait for these and that's where they want to show their best. He will be the dangerman straightaway but they have some pretty good batsmen.

“Actually, India have quite a rounded team and they will see this as a significant chance. They would have prepared for this tour for a long time. I think it is going to be really close series,” he added.