'Last one to press the panic button when I see so many positives' - Ravi Shastri

It was a tough tour. And tough lessons to be learned. Deep down we know in every Test match barring Lord's we had our chances. Lord's we lost and Nottingham we won. In the other three Tests we had our chances big time. We came close, but could not close the deal. We have addressed what has to be done next time round. We have discussed matters. At the end of a tough trip like this, I think you can hold your head high because you have competed all the way. The opposition knows it, the British public knows it, and we know it. The Indian fans and the Indian public know it, too. So there are plenty of positives to take away, but it is time now to address why we have come so close and cannot get past the finishing line, and we have discussed that.

Yes, they did. In fact, [India] got much better as a bowling unit. I was pleasantly surprised to read in one of the UK newspapers which said if there was a composite side picked, the four fast bowlers would be three Indians (Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami) and [James] Anderson. That was the ultimate compliment you can get.

As far as batting goes, it was tough for both sides. When the ball moves around so much and it seams, I don't care who the batsman is, it is going to be tough. You need your share of luck. And when you weigh the factors - every time India batted it had to be cloudy, every time England batted the sun was out. But that is not an excuse. I'm just saying very clearly that a moving Dukes ball will test anybody. So it took us time, but we got better at it as the series went on. As opposed to guys who are born and bred on these [pitches] who still struggled all the way. That is reality, which should be accepted.

I thought the other positive, in addition to the [fast] bowling, we improved massively with our catching. And the intensity. For us to fight the way we did on the final day after being 2 for 3, where I have seen teams just throw in the towel - last day of the tour, the Test series is over, game over an hour before lunch on the fifth day, pack your bags, go home. But what I really loved was the grit, determination to take it into the final session, final hour of play. That, as a coach, made me feel really proud.

If you have two or three games against weaker sides we don't mind because it is a game. But when you have a schedule as tight as this and when you have a memorandum of understanding that has already been formulated, with a choc-a-bloc calendar, there is very little you can do. Now, we have requested for a couple of [warm-up] games in Australia before the Test series.

Yes. Already done that. But is there space [to play those matches], that is the question.

Absolutely not. Why would we be? You can only see the results. Every time after the second Test we have improved. You can still get better. But why can't we be in that position in the first Test match?

I would not say failed badly. But we tried. We must give credit where it is due. Virat and me were asked to pick the Man of the Series [for England] and we both picked Sam Curran. And that answers your question. Look where Curran has scored, and, that is where he hurt us. More than England it was Curran who hurt us.

In the first Test, England were 87 for 7 (in the second innings) at Edgbaston, he got the runs. In the fourth Test, they were 86 for 6 (first innings) in Southampton, he got the runs. We were 50 for 0 (first innings) at Edgbaston, he got the wickets. So at crucial stages in this series he chipped in with runs and wickets. That was the difference between the two sides.

You have to give credit to Curran. He gutsed it out, he took his chances. It is not that we bowled badly or we dropped catches. It is just that he was tenacious enough to mix caution with aggression in a very impressive manner.

I mean there is an endeavor to work towards it. We got better as the tour went on. Like I pointed out earlier, a moving Dukes ball [is a difficult challenge]. For Alastair Cook to admit that in his years as an opening batsman he has never seen so much grass and so much movement, I don't have to say anything more. The guy has played 161 Tests on the trot out of which more than half were in England. For him to pointedly make this remark with regards to this series says it all. Even in my years of coming here as a player, broadcaster and as a coach I have not seen so much movement and seam.

Boss, it was tough (chuckles). These are the best openers we have.

It is the quality of the bowling and getting used to playing that moving ball, which we got better at. If you saw as the series went the guys started playing a lot later. They started leaving a lot of balls, which Virat did from the outset, and hence was successful. And you need your share of luck. For example when Cook came out to bat in the second innings at The Oval, he was beaten several times. Each of our fast bowlers beat him. Beaten means, some 15-20 times. It was not funny. And when our guys went out to bat in the second innings, first ball onwards it did things. Virat goes, first ball he nicks.

Naturally, out first ball, but I wasn't surprised because it was mental fatigue. It had been a long tour, [he had] been on the field the whole day and he had not even 10 minutes between innings to pad up and there he was [again] in the middle. It happened so quickly. It was probably the best phase of the match to bowl.

They are doing that now. You could see what [KL] Rahul did in the final innings. You have to guts it out. As an opening batsman you should not be afraid to look ugly or dirty. You got to be ready to be scrap.

He played late. He played straighter. He knew where his off stump was. And his shot selection was excellent. It took Cook and Root four Tests to get runs. So it takes time.

We don't pick sides. It is the selectors that pick the squad and they obviously must have wanted to blood some youth.

You will have to ask the selectors. I do not interfere with selection.

Cook, [Keaton] Jennings. What did Root do? He went from No. 3 to 4. My point to people is: it is difficult. That is why you need time [to prepare], but unfortunately the itineraries are such that you don't have the time. Ideally we would want two three- or four-day games before a Test series. But do you have the time? For example, we have a T20 series in Australia preceding the Test series. There is a 10-day gap before the first Test. These are things that have been approved earlier. It is not in our control.

When we went to Essex (in July for the one-off warm-up match), there was not a blade of grass on the pitch. We insisted for the track to have as much grass as possible. That also it lasted for a day. After that the track was flat.

It was shot selection that let him down. If he looks back he will himself say, "not the right shot at the right time." He had a hundred for the taking in Nottingham the way he batted. Then batted very well in Southampton, and couldn't do anything once it came out of the rough and kept low. He was unfortunate in the second innings at The Oval - he hit the sweep with the toe of the bat and even if he tried to sweep 10 times from where he picked the ball it won't go there.

The team management did have a chat with him and others, too. We told him the important thing is shot selection and if he stays there, there is no one who can stop him. If he gets in he scores quickly.

Absolutely. The middle order is in safe hands with Pujara, Virat and Jinks [Rahane].

We did not expect it to rain as much as it did. You do take the weather forecast into account, but you pick a team still. Whether it will rain, how much it will, whether the sun will come out is not in your hands.

Which they did.

They did. That was evident none more so than on the final day of the series. Barring Lord's and Trent Bridge, where either team dominated the other, every day, every session of the remaining Tests something was happening. India were creating the opportunities, unfortunately we were not in a position to close it the way we would have like it.

Absolutely not. Last one to press the panic button when I see so many positives. I head back home with a very positive state of mind. I know exactly what we do. I know exactly and clearly where the team is heading - it is heading in the right direction. People are entitled to their opinions. As long as we know the job we are doing and we are honest to our jobs, as long as support staff we are helping players channelise the energies in the right direction, we are not worried about what critics say.

Absolutely not. Nobody has called. Nobody.

Total.

I have already told you before the series: tell me one team in the world at the moment that goes out and competes all the time. We are the one team. It is just that we need results coming in our favour more often on the winning side. But we are out there competing. And we know it. We are not worried about what people will say and what they will do. We know what this team has done in the last three to four years. In the last four years this team has won nine Tests overseas. They want more. The beauty is they are hungry, they are passionate, and that is why you saw that performance on the last day. They will keep fighting. That is the biggest positive for me to come out of this entire trip: India fought every bloody session of the series despite being blown away at Lord's.

It is a team that is believing slowly that it can compete anywhere in the world, against any opposition. It just needs to tighten the screws in certain areas and you will get the results. Each member of that team is fully aware of that and takes pride in doing his job.

To bury his ego. To be patient. To leave a lot of balls. To take his time. Be disciplined. Above everything belief in his own ability.

Same thing. I told them you are a team, if you play to potential, you know what you can do. And the constant self-belief in striving for perfection is what will make you better and better in what you do. Results sometimes don't tell the story, but the process does. If you keep banging away in areas where you have to improve then without a shadow of doubt you will improve. And with a little bit of luck, you will pull off spectacular things. So doesn't worry me one bit. When I look back at the way the guys fought, the way the fast bowlers stood up to the task is commendable.

No, not all. We are still the No.1 team in the world. And England know how well we fought. Their media knows how well we fought. Our fans know how well we fought. Their public knows how well we fought. We know inside how well we fought.

At the Oval, on the final morning, a gentleman walked up to me and said, "I have been following Indian cricket for 25 years. And I am proud to say that you are a team that fights till the end." He told me this having witnessed India fight from 2 for 3 to 58 for 3 at stumps on the fourth evening. What unfolded was exactly what he said and felt.

Prime and most important.

India has to improve on the things they have done in England.