Indian bowlers will learn from this series: Ravi Shastri

Shastri is referring to how India came back from the Test and tri-series loss in Australia past year, did well in the World Cup, and capped them all with a creditable showing in the Test series in Sri Lanka and at home against South Africa.

The 4th ODI will be played at Manuka Oval, Canberra on January 20.

Shastri also said there wasn’t much more the batsmen could have done even though they were playing probably a third-choice Australian bowling attack. You have to bowl as a unit.

Ravi remembers of the bowler’s performance in World Cup 2015 where they did well because they bowled in a unit. “Finishing touch is better bowling, and being more consistent as a bowling unit”.

“There’s absolutely no shame in the way we have played, in spite of the results, because I know there’s one way to go after this tour of Australia, and it’s going up”. I know what happened 12 months ago after a Test series. The bowlers will learn, and we can go places. Disappointed, yes, because, let’s be fair, we could have pulled one back especially in Melbourne.

“And if that happens, I think that will be the biggest plus – irrespective of the result”, he added. “We need bench strength because this is one of the toughest tours”, Shastri asserted.

Shastri said he would suggest to the BCCI that a squad of 16 would be better of than 15 in overseas tours. “When it comes to bowling, what I would suggest in the future to the BCCI is to have some extra players”. The positive man that Shastri is, he only sees a learning curve for a young team. “We need to have a bench-strength of atleast 7-8 bowlers have to be there all the time and there also there will be specialists for T20s, for ODIs and for Tests”, he added. I am not giving any excuses here, but it is an opportunity for the youngsters to learn. “I think One-day cricket now is being played along the lines of Test cricket in the first 10 overs, then they will look to accelerate in the middle part and obviously look to finish it off. It’s quite challenging for the opening bowlers”, Warner said ahead of the fourth ODI today. Then to Melbourne (3rd ODI) where the time is different and all in the matter of six days. “Hence we played Rishi [Dhawan] and Gurkeerat [Singh Mann], it gave you an extra option”. But then we realised that we need more bases covered. You might say inexperience. It is not often you go through that.

The former India all-rounder agreed that India needed extra bowlers on tour.

As for the inconsequential fourth rubber on Wednesday, Shastri hinted that Ravichandran Ashwin, who was left out of the team in the third ODI in Melbourne, might be recalled.

“At the end of the day, so far 300 hasn’t been enough and we have to stay on top of our game to keep chasing down the good totals India are posting”.

“If they were focusing on milestones, Virat Kohli wouldn’t have been the fastest to 7000 runs; he would have taken another 100 games”, countered Shastri.

Hit all over the park in the series so far, the struggling Indian bowlers have the sympathy of marauding Australian opener David Warner, who feels the the bowlers’ job has become tough due to flat wickets produced for one-day cricket these days. “If that was the case, Rohit Sharma would not be (scoring) two double hundreds, and a score of 264”, he said.