Colombo, August 1 : India’s chief coach Ravi Shastri believes that Virat Kohli’s team has already achieved way more than some of the previous Indian teams that had several illustrious names in their ranks. “This bunch has been together for two years now. They have already done things that a lot of other Indian teams and a lot of big names couldn’t do in their careers,” Shastri said here today. “For example, winning a series in Sri Lanka in 2015 was one such achievement.” The series win in Sri Lanka had come after a gap of 22 years. Before the 2015 win, Mohammad Azharuddin’s team had won in 1993.
“Many big names played for 20 years and they toured Sri Lanka many times but never won a series here. This team has done that. This team is used to doing things that a lot of other (Indian) teams haven’t done,” said Shastri. Shastri’s observation, however, needs to be taken with a pinch of salt for the Indian teams, in the last decade, have won in England, Pakistan, West Indies and New Zealand. Besides, they also drew series in Australia and South Africa. Shastri, however, chose to focus on the series win in Sri Lanka alone, and was full of praise for Kohli’s leadership. “I think he is still young but he has matured a lot since he took over as captain in Adelaide. You can see the difference in his body language. For his age, he has already done a lot and there are signs that he can be right up there with the very best,” Shastri said.