Calcutta: Ravi Shastri, Team India's head coach, has accepted that his players' preparation had been far from adequate for the three-Test series in South Africa.

Having been defeated both in Cape Town and in Centurion, the Virat Kohli-captained India have already lost the series. It's not the first time that the last Test overseas has been reduced to a 'dead' match.

Shastri conceded what has been apparent to just about everybody during a 40-minute interview (on Thursday) with Dr Ali Bacher, for his show 'In Conversation', which is telecast by SuperSport.

The interview took place at a premier hotel in Johannesburg's Sandton Towers.

"Ravi, whom I have known for decades, agreed that India should have played two-three first-class matches before the opening Test...

"In fact, Ravi said that two-three first-class matches had to be played before a Test series in Australia and in England too...

"Ravi went to the extent of saying that playing T20Is till December 24 against Sri Lanka hadn't quite been right...

"I didn't specifically ask Ravi about his role, but somebody with his vast knowledge of conditions across the globe, couldn't have been party to a decision where a T20I series (at home) was the preparation for a demanding tour of South Africa...

[The first Test began on January 5, without even a single practice match.]

"Another Test series has been lost in South Africa, but India would, in time to come, surely pay more attention to itineraries when the big tours come up...

"I assume one learns from defeats," Dr Bacher, a former captain of South Africa and the one-time No.1 cricket administrator, told The Telegraph.

According to Dr Bacher, Shastri also conceded that the much taller South Africa quicks made a telling difference.

"Look, when the bounce is uneven, the team with taller fast bowlers gets a distinct advantage. In the ongoing series, that advantage has rested with South Africa...

"Ravi didn't, of course, have a problem accepting that India had been decisively beaten," Dr Bacher, who was a key figure in establishing bilateral cricket ties, back in 1991-1992, added.

Asked to name the No.1 quick he'd faced, Shastri chose the late Malcolm Marshall. "Wasim Akram came next," Dr Bacher informed.

When it was the turn of batsmen, Shastri picked Sachin Tendulkar. "Ahead of Brian Lara," Dr Bacher pointed out.

Dr Bacher has had an issue in his right eye, but that didn't stop him from watching the first three days of the Centurion Test. Didn't compel him to put off the interview as well.

"I maybe 75, but I don't feel old. I haven't lost any of my motivation or enthusiasm," is how Dr Bacher ended our conversation.