After India’s decimation of Bangladesh in the two-Test series, the head coach of Indian cricket team Ravi Shastri on Sunday advised Bangladesh to build up a strong pace attack like the hosts to achieve success abroad.
"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. They need more strength in their pace attack overseas. If they have that, they can compete better," Shastri told a press conference after India, on the back of high quality pace attack, defeated Bangladesh by an innings and 46 runs in the second and final Test in Kolkata.
The Indian pace trio of Ishant Sharma (9/78), Umesh Yadav (8/82) and Mohammed Shami, who picked up two wickets in the first innings, used the pink ball to optimally to demolish Bangladesh in little more than two days in the Kolkata Test.
Together, the pacemen claimed 19 of Bangladesh’s 20 wickets in the two innings while spinner Ravichandran Ashwin got just one scalp in the just-concluded Test series.
This was record a 12th home series win for India on the trot. Shastri was effusive about the performance of 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. New Zealand will be a good challenge and we're looking forward to it,” he said.
Shastri said if the Indian bowling unit has developed into a lethal and most feared one, it's precisely because the bowlers have learnt to hunt in a pack.
"The discipline and the hunger to win (is there). 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," Shastri said after India's comprehensive victory at Eden Gardens.
"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.
