Shastri wants his team to play ‘proper cricket’

India team director Ravi Shastri says his team have to play 'proper cricket' if they want to win the third and deciding Test against Sri Lanka starting in Colombo on Friday.

The home team won the first Test by 63 runs in Galle before India fought back to win convincingly, by 278 runs, in the second match in what was Sri Lanka legend Kumar Sangakkara's final international match.

Shastri also wants his bowlers to stick to their discipline line and lengths, something he says would guarantee victory and a series win.

A former India allrounder, Shastri said: "We play for only one reason. We play to win. So we have got a chance, in a position now, where if you win this Test match you win the series, which is massive.

"So, there is no point being shy of going for a win. At the same time, it is not the case of being overconfident. You got to have a right balance and go and play proper cricket like we did in the last test match for five days.

"I think it is the best bowling I have seen as the unit in about a couple of years. Especially on the day two and parts of the day three (second Test), where they might have not got wickets but the discipline was there.

"They kept the pressure on the opposition, and when wickets started falling it made a massive difference. If they can stick to their discipline I think there is a lot of promise."

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