India legend and former coach Ravi Shastri wants Team India to put their recent shock loss to New Zealand at the back of their minds and concentrate on positive memories achieved from previous successes in Australia ahead of the upcoming battle for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
India’s place at the top of the ICC World Test Championship standings took a major hit as Rohit Sharma’s lead team suffered an unprecedented 3-0 whitewash at the hands of New Zealand - their first Test series loss at home in 12 years.
But Shastri knows his team is still in the mix to reach next year's World Test Championship Final at Lord's and has urged his former side to stay positive in their quest for a place at next year's one-off Test.
“India will be smarting from that defeat in that series against New Zealand because they were caught unawares,” Shastri told host Sanjana Ganesan on the recent episode of The ICC Review.
“They were a little complacent and they paid the price for it. But having said that, it's a very proud team, this Indian team.”
India have done well in away tours. This showed during their tour of Australia in 2018/19 when they won the opening Test in Australia for the first time, victorious by 31 runs in Adelaide on the back of a magnificent century to Cheteshwar Pujara.
Shastri believes India could get back on track by starting their tour of Australia in a similar vein.
“They would be hurting and they'd like to get back on track ASAP. The best way to bounce back from such a series, is start off another series in a good manner," he noted.
“So the first two Test matches become extremely crucial, going ahead.”
India will need to win four of their five matches in Australia to ensure a place at the World Test Championship decider next year.
The five-match series will begin next week in Perth, followed by a Day/Night match in Adelaide next month.
