India coach Ravi Shastri hailed the Indian pace attack following his side’s thumping win against Bangladesh on Sunday. Shastri thinks the quicks are formidable as they hunt in a pack as Virat Kohli’s side recorded their twelfth straight win on home soil.
The trio of Ishant Sharma (match haul of 9/78), Umesh Yadav (match haul of 8/82) and Mohammed Shami – who picked up two wickets in the first innings – demolished Bangladesh in just over two days.
“The discipline and the hunger to win [is there],” Shastri said. “They understand how important it is to support one another and bowl as a unit. That’s when you create pressure and that’s when things happen. They know they are arguably the best side in the world.”
He added, “We are bowling as a unit and you feel proud as an Indian sitting outside and seeing men at work in such a professional manner. It has taken time. I think in the last 15 months they played a lot of cricket in foreign territory and that’s how they learnt.”
Shastri said the current crop of Indian fast bowlers have learnt it the hard way. “They’ve been together that for some time and they know there’s no shortcut. Individuals will not win it and they know it.”
The India coach also had a word of advice for Bangladesh, saying the Tigers need to have a strong pace attack like India to be successful overseas. “They [Bangladesh] need exposure, they’re very strong in their country but need to learn when they travel. The more the exposure, the better they’ll get.” Shastri said. He added, “They need more strength in their pace attack overseas. If they have that, they can compete better.”
India bowling coach Bharat Arun too was effusive in his praise for the Indian pacers. “They do hunt as a pack and they do take pride in others’ performances and that’s the real secret behind this pack [of fast bowlers]. That’s what has given them all the success,” he said.
“We’re an experienced bowling attack and the beauty of the attack is how quickly they adapt to situations. I thought they adapted well to pink ball. [The upcoming tour of] New Zealand will be a good challenge and we’re looking forward to it.”
