DHARAMSHALA: An extraordinary set of bowlers may have made it seem like easy pickings in the fifth Test but head coach Rahul Dravid was at pains to underline that the 4-1 series scoreline in India’s favour was tougher than it appeared.
Dravid said the manner in which an under-strength Team India, deprived of some of their more established players, was able to bounce back from defeat to England in the first Test in Hyderabad was “a real tribute” to the quality of the players.
“Defeats in India have been rare and I’d like to acknowledge and credit the players for that,” Dravid said.
“Sometimes we just take it (home Test wins) for granted. What is heartening is that India have had this kind of (home) dominance over the last 10 years or so in spite of the exposure that foreign players get in this country, compared to what they would get in the 1980s and 90s or even early 2000s, before the IPL.
“A lot of foreign players that come here spend a lot of time in this country. I know it (the IPL) is a different format but it’s about familiarity, about getting used to these conditions, about knowing this country. In the past a lot of foreigners didn’t have that opportunity. We don’t get that opportunity, our young players don’t spend two months in Australia before they go there. A lot of English or Australian players spend a lot of time here. That in spite of that we’ve been able to maintain that record and standard is a real tribute to the players. It’s not easy. Sometimes I find people just take it for granted but we need to recognize the quality and hard work that people are putting in.”
This isn’t the first time Dravid has pointed out this anomaly. After India’s defeat to England in the semifinal of the previous T20 World Cup in Australia in 2022, the coach had stressed on the need to balance the scales by giving India’s cricketers more exposure to foreign conditions and T20 leagues abroad.
‘Credit to selection panel for choice of debutants’
Against England, India missed Test regulars like Virat Kohli and Mohammed Shami completely while KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja and even jasprit bumrah missed parts of the series. However, a series of Test debuts for the likes of Dhruv Mackerel, Sarfaraz KhanAkash Deep and Devdutt Padikkal paid off in spades, leading Dravid to praise the selection panel chaired by Ajit Agarkar.
“I’d like to give credit to Ajit and his team. We don’t get to see domestic cricket. We have to rely on the selectors to tell us who the guys are who can step up and fill in the gaps. They (selectors) have been spot on and have guided us. Sometimes they don’t get the credit they deserve,” he said.
“Also the importance of the ‘A’ tours, all these guys were just recently playing an ‘A’ tour against England. The ‘A’ team is that perfect bridge between the two standards (domestic and international cricket). There’s a lot of work behind the scenes.”
