Virat Kohli best player in the world: Ravi Shastri backs Indian captain ahead of England Test series

New Delhi: As India set to bat in their five-match Test series in England starting Wednesday, head coach Ravi Shastri backed captain Virat Kohli calling him 'the best player in the world'. Despite Kohli's disappointing performance four years back, the cricket legend is confident about the captain of his squad.

India have won nine Test series out of 25 since 2014, taking themselves to the top of the Test rankings. Of the nine, six have come at home. During the same period, India won three and lost one away Test series.

"The challenge for us is to be consistent in the red-ball format overseas. We believe we have the potential to be one of the best travelling teams," said Ravi Shastri in an interview with ESPNCricinfo.

"At the moment, there is no side in the world that travels properly. You can see what is happening to South Africa in Sri Lanka. We know our scorelines in England before this tour: 4-0 (2011), 3-1 (2014). We want to do much better than that."

While speaking about the upcoming series, the coach conveyed his hope that the Indian squad would look to expand on their historically poor record in England. 

"We have a bowling attack that can take 20 wickets. We are not bothered by what conditions we play in. We have the variety but we need to execute our plans in the best possible manner. And bat well, which is important. Our batting let us down in South Africa."

India have only won three Test series and drawn one out of the 17 times they have toured England. The last time India toured, in 2014, they went down 1-3, despite a convincing 95-run win in the second Test at Lord's.