India to take no prisoners against Australia, says coach Shastri
India coach Ravi Shastri has warned a battling Australia that his side will be taking no prisoners this summer.
Shastri did not believe Australia had lost its aura in the fallout over the ball-tampering scandal and a scathing review, but said India would be showing no mercy.
He believed India — led by inspirational captain Virat Kohli — was primed to fire as it looks to win its first Test series in Australia.
India will kick-start its tour with the three-game Twenty20 international series' opener in Brisbane on Wednesday.
Kohli against Australia
- 2011/12: (in Aus) — 300 runs at 37.50
- 2013 (in India) — 284 runs at 40.57
- 2014/15 (in Aus) — 692 runs at 86.50
- 2017 (in India) — 36 runs at 7.20
- Overall average v Australia: 50.84
Asked if Australia had lost their aura, Shastri said he didn't think so.
"I always believe no team is weak at home," he said.
"We might have three or four players not playing when a team comes to India but God forbid if anyone says it is a weak Indian team because you will be surprised.
"We will be taking no prisoners but are focusing on our game rather than what is happening outside."
A very different Australian side will greet India in a summer which will also feature four Tests and three one-dayers.
Australia has ditched its on-field aggression and adopted a "good bloke" approach in the fallout over the review.
Kohli has fed off Australia's "in-your-face" attitude in the past but Shastri did not believe the hosts' new, polite approach would affect his skipper.
"He won't take his foot off the gas that is for sure," Shastri warned.
The T20 series will start the tour, but India already has one eye on the first Test in Adelaide starting on December 6.
It has never won a Test series in Australia but will fancy its chances against the depleted hosts.
India has found it tough to win overseas, a trend that continued with recent Test series losses away to South Africa (2-1) and England (4-1).
Shastri insisted his side had learned from those series.
"It's about seizing the moment. If you look at those Test matches (overseas), the scoreline doesn't really tell you the whole story," he said.
"There were some very tight Test matches and we lost some big moments badly which cost us the series.
"It could have been just an hour in a session over four days which made all the difference — you have to learn from that."
AAP
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ABC .net
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