Current Indian team not better than the Indian sides of the past, says Steve Waugh

Steve Waugh does not agree with head coach Ravi Shastri's comments on the current Indian team being the best Indian side in the past 15 years. The legendary Australian skipper feels that the current Indian team is not better than the one he played against.

"Look I have played against some great Indian sides and I am not sure that the current side is better than the ones we played against," Waugh said in an interview with PTI.

Even though Waugh understands that Ravi Shastri wants his players to believe in their abilities and strengths, he believes that the head coach should avoid such remarks.

"I am not really sure but probably not a great thing to say as it puts extra pressure on the team. Once they start losing, they will get a lot of criticism for that. Look, it's good that Ravi Shastri believes in his side but comments like these could be kept to himself," the former Australian skipper said.

Focusing on the upcoming Test series between Australia and India, Waugh said, "Australia will be hard to beat in Australia. We have a bowling attack as good as any team in world cricket and we can take wickets. It's our batting if we score 350 runs in first innings, I think we will be very hard to beat. And someone will always come and do well and that's the nature of the sport. I am still pretty confident that we can win in Australia but it's going to be a close series though."

Waugh was also full of praise for Indian skipper Virat Kohli. Impressed by his immense consistency, he even compared the 30-year old with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara.

Waugh asserted, "He (Kohli_ is a great player and he loves these big moments. He is like Tendulkar and Lara. They wait for these (moments) and that's where they want to show their best. He will be the dangerman straightaway but they also have some pretty good batsmen."