Ravi Shastri said India are working towards having an well-balanced bowling attack to pick up 20 wickets regardless of the pitch condition (AP Photo) HIGHLIGHTS Ravi Shastri took pride in India's bowling firepower We want to 20 wickets regardless of the pitch: Shastri Ravi Shastri heaped rich praise on newly-promoted opener Rohit Sharma India head coach Ravi Shastri heaped rich praise on the team's bowling unit, saying their focus is to pick 20 wickets in a Test regardless of the nature of the pitches on offer. Shastri pointed out that if India's batting clicks, then it all seems a bit like "the Ferrari has taken off".
Ravi Shastri's comments came after India completed their 1st-ever series whitewash of South Africa with an innings and 202-run win in the 3rd and final Test of a 3-match series in Ranchi.
Over the course of the last 20 days, India flaunted their bowling firepower that was too hot to handle for South Africa. The visitors suffered innings defeat for the 2nd successive time in Ranchi.
While South Africa managed only 24 Indian wickets over the 3 Tests, India picked up all 60 and in quick time. While spin was expected to dominate the 3-Test series in India, the home pacers stepped up and picked up 26 of the 60 South African wickets.
"We want to take the pitch out of the equation. Bhaad me gaya pitch (To hell with pitches). We want to 20 wickets regardless of the pitch. Be it Johannesburg or Mumbai or Delhi or Auckland or Melbourne, our work is to pick up 20 wickets. We need a team unit when it comes to bowling for picking up 20 wickets," Ravi Shastri told Star Sports after the win in Ranchi on Tuesday.
11th straight series win at home for #TeamIndia
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BCCI (@BCCI) October 22, 2019 "f we pick up 20 wickets and then our batting clicks, then it's a bit like our Ferrari has taken off. If our bowling unit picks up 20 wickets then we're well placed to pick up the World Test Championship points we're after," Shastri added.
Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav combined to demolish South African batting unit in Ranchi. South Africa lost 16 wickets on Monday as Shami and Umesh gave the visitors a dose of their own medicine with some unplayable deliveries.
Meanwhile, Ravi Shastri took pride in the way India managed to come up with a complete team performance in the 3-Test series. While newly-promoted Test opener Rohit Sharma stole the show with 500-plus runs in the series, Virat Kohli and Mayank Agarwal got a double hundred each.
When it comes to the bowling department, R Ashwin topped the charts with 14 wickets but there was more than handy contributions from Ravindra Jadeja, Shami, Umesh and debutant Shahbaz NAdeem.
"It's a team effort. Normally, in India, we have 2 players hogging the limelight. But here (in this series), we had 6-7 players. We had a captain who is leading from the front. He scored 200-plus in Pune. You have batsmen like Ajinkya Rahane there is Pujara chipping in Jadeja chipping in and then picking up wickets fast bowlers chipping in. You know you have players who contribute all the time. That's what you want as a team," Ravi Shastri added.
Stressing that Rohit Sharma would have had immense job satisfaction after getting it right as Test opener in his maiden series at the new batting position, Ravi Shastri added: "The job satisfaction that an opener gets no other batsman gets. Rohit Sharma was wonderful in this series.
"As an opener, your mindset has to be different. When you need to open in Tests, you might get out in the first 10 balls. On the first day here, it was touch difficult. Rohit worked his way out of it, but he kept thinking he had to work hard and cash in when the pitch gets better. That's what happened."
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