Ravi Shastri backs Team India after series defeats in South Africa: What is there to worry about?

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has backed Team India to bounce back from their series losses in South Africa, saying there is no need to press the panic button after the results on their tour to the Rainbow Nation.

India headed to South Africa as the favourites to win the Test series in what was Rahul Dravid’s first overseas tour as India’s head coach. India won the first Test in Centurion but they lost the 3-Test series 2-1, unable to fend off an incredible comeback from Dean Elgar’s South Africa.

The hosts carried the winning momentum into the ODI series and clean-swept KL Rahul-led visiting side 3-0. South Africa was considered the final frontier for India, who won away series in Australia and led 2-1 in England, but the defeat across the two formats has led to plenty of questions.

“If you lose one series, you people start criticising. You can’t win every game, there will be wins and losses,” Ravi Shastri told the PTI.

“How can the standard go down suddenly? For five years, you have been the number one side in the world,” he added.

“When you have a win ratio of 65 per cent over the last five years, what is there to worry about? What is there to worry about, our rival teams should worry,” he added.

Notably, head coach Dravid had said the series defeats in South Africa is a good eye-opener, adding that there was room for plenty of improvement in the ODI side in the lead up the World Cup next year.

“This series has been a good eye-opener for us. It is an opportunity to reflect and learn. The team has not played a lot of one-day cricket since the last World Cup. We need to look to keep improving,” he added.