Ravi Shashtri confident that Team India will do well on South Africa’s fast tracks

Over the last year, Team India have been playing cricket at a rate that not too many teams can match. A packed home season which started with four back to back Test series was followed by the IPL. Following the conclusion of the cash-rich league, India travelled for the Champions Trophy before two back to back away series in the Carribean and Sri Lanka. Australia and then New Zealand visited the India before Sri Lanka came in for a full fledged tour. 

After the home series, against Sri Lanka, under Virat Kohli’s captaincy, the team will start off with a warm-up match on December 30 and the first Test will be played from January 5, 2018, in Cape Town. Despite the tight schedule, Shastri believes that the Indian side is prepared for the upcoming tour, especially for the bouncy wickets.

“We are ready to play on fast wickets. Our challenge will be to handle the pace. Obviously, pace and bounce will differ a little bit from one ground to another. We are prepared to play on bouncy wickets. We will be ready for that. I am confident that our team will do well on fast tracks on the tour of South Africa,” Shastri told Mid-day.

"We have to play more matches on seaming tracks. We used to play on batting-friendly wickets. Now we have to bat on tracks where there is some grass and bounce."

Though Rangana Herath didn't have the best of times with the ball in the Kolkata Test, he contributed with a brilliant fifty with the bat. Calling the spinner the best left armer in the world, Shastri added that he was still a big part of Sri Lanka’s game-plan.

“A terrific cricketer! He started beautifully in the first innings at Eden Gardens. He has been the best left-arm spinner in the world for quite a few years. He has single-handedly won many matches for Sri Lanka - a dedicated and fascinating cricketer!” Shastri added.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who got the man of the match award in the first Test against Sri Lanka, was given a break for the remainder of the Test series due to personal reasons. Bhuvenshwar has been one of India's best bowlers over the last year, with teammates and opponents calling him one of the best death over specialists in World cricket. Shastri attested to the back that he was one of the India's most improved cricketer and attributed the change in performances to sheer hard work.

“Bhuvi has worked really hard. He spends hours and hours in the gym, gaining strength and has practised for hours in the nets. He's a very intelligent cricketer. The moment he realized how to improve as a cricketer, he immediately started spending more time to develop his skills,” the 55-year-old stated.