No team is weak at home: Shastri on controversy-marred Australia

Brisbane [Australia], Nov 18 (ANI):Ahead of the start of three matches T-20 series at Australia, national coach of Indian Cricket team Ravi Shastri refused to undermine the strength of the opponent asserting that "no team is weak at home" and emphasized that Australian team cannot be taken lightly.
The Australian side are still perceived at a reviving stage having been deprived of the services of former skipper Steve Smith and opener David Warner following their role in a massive ball-tampering scandal during a Test series against South Africa in March.
Despite the fact that Australian team are already mired into a controversy Shastri's statement implies that winning the series would certainly not be any cake-walk for the Indian team as they expects a tough competition from the hosts.
While asserting that India would not be taking any prisoners during the tournament, Shastri suggested the team to concentrate on their game instead of focusing on what is happening outside.
"I don't think so (that Australia has lost their aura). Once you have a sporting culture in you, it will always be there. I always believe that no team is weak at home. We might have 3-4 players not playing when a team comes to India. But God forbid anyone says it's a weak Indian team. We are taking no prisoners. We want to go out and put our best foot forward and focus on our game rather than on what is happening outside," said Shastri.
"I think they (India) have done well. They got to learn from their mistakes. The endeavor is to get better when you go overseas. There aren't too many sides doing very well out of their home. Australia did it for a while in the 90s and early 2000, South Africa did it for while. But if you look at last 5 or 6 years, you tell me which team has traveled well. So, why to pick on India," he said.
"Just seize the big moments. If you look at those test matches that were against South Africa and England, the scoreline doesn't really tell you the real story. There were some really tight Test matches and we lost some big moments badly which cost us the series at the end. You got to learn from that and see what happens after that," he said.
India and Australia are slated to play three T20 internationals, four Test matches, and three ODIs from November 21 to January 18 on Australian ground. (ANI)