File photo of Rahul Dravid.© AFP
Indian cricket team head coach Rahul Dravid feels that a “realistic” approach can help the batters perform well on the challenging tracks that are on offer during the ongoing India vs Australia Test series. Hosts India have only one century among top-order batters, scored by skipper Rohit Sharma, while Cheteshwar Pujara is the only other player with a 50-plus score. While admitting that the wicket has been challenging, Dravid said even a half-century or a nearby contribution could be really helpful on such tracks.
“You need to be realistic as to what is a good performance on these challenging wickets, not only here but if you look at last three to four years, wickets have generally got challenging everywhere,” said Dravid on a press conference ahead of the fourth and final India vs Australia Test that is set to take place at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
“So you need to be realistic what the bench-marks are now, what standards are on these kinds of surfaces just one good performance can change the game. We saw that with Rohit’s performance (in Nagpur) and we have seen that.”
“It might not be a double hundred but a 50-60 or 70 somewhere, but could actually be a very, very good score in some conditions.”
Someone cheekily asked about the critics, saying that during the head coach’s playing days there used to be good batting strips on offer and 550 plus used to be scored.
“No one wants extremes but it can happen. I am not going to divulge personal conversations with my players and everyone wants to win and qualify.”
(With PTI Inputs)
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