It has been a good seven years since Rahul Dravid last played for India before retirement came calling, but even that quantum of time hasn’t ebbed away his popularity quotient. In a throwback to his heyday, when the 45-year-old was renowned as much for his batting prowess as for his erudition skills, Dravid, who is in the city, spoke with his customary eloquence on a host of topics.
Chennai:
Excerpts:
On Pujara’s good show down under: He has been brilliant. I hope India will go on to win the match on Sunday. He has played two match-winning innings in the two matches we won. He has played match-defining innings in not only this series, but throughout his career. A lot of his innings have come in difficult situations or when the team needed it the most. I think it’s terrific the way he has been playing and how the team has rallied around him. He wasn’t picked for the first Test match in England, but the way he has come back after that is terrific for Indian cricket.
On the impressive show of Indian pacers: It’s fantastic to see them consistently take 20 wickets in every Test match. If you start a Test match knowing you can take 20 wickets, I think it gives the team a huge fillip. It’s a very good template for us to know that you need to always have this quality of bowling attack to be a competitive Test team. But we have to ensure that we have a good supply line of fast bowlers in case of any injury. Things are looking good on the fast bowling front, but we shouldn’t relax.
On Ashwin getting injured in both England and Australia: These things happen. It’s a credit to the team that it managed to keep the same three fast bowlers on the ground for three Test matches. If you can keep the guys in form fit for most of the games, then you give yourself the best chance to win. Maybe, it’s a little disappointing for Ashwin but again these things happen when you put your body on the line. I’m sure Ashwin is working hard on his fitness and doing whatever he needs to do. Even then it happens sometimes. The way Jadeja stepped up and performed is a credit to our bench strength.
On his stint with India A and how it’s progressing: I have really enjoyed being part of the India A and the U-19 set-up for the last two or three years. It’s really good to see the kind of talent that is coming through now. We are building some bench strength for the national team. It’s a good space to be working in and it’s just a question of refining that process and learning from all the tours we get and how we can make it more robust. I think it’s a meaningful programme and we need to get better at how we structure it.
On what his advice is to players waiting in the wings for an India call-up: Selection is not in their hands and it’s not something they can control. I have been in that position myself. Even if you are performing well, sometimes you don’t get a break. That’s the nature of the beast. Only 11 people can play the sport and only 15 can be in the squad. You have to tell them that whenever the opportunity comes they should be prepared. The ‘A’ tour programme and the first-class cricket here is giving them enough exposure so that when they go to the next level, they give themselves the best chance to succeed.