Australia series loss a warning for high-flying India, alerts Dravid
Rahul Dravid. -Collected
||Desk Report||
Former Indian captain Rahul Dravid believed the defeat against Australia in the recently concluded bilateral ODI series is a warning sign for high-flying India and urged that the team must play the world cup very well.
“I think there was a bit of notion that we are going walk there and win the World Cup easily. So, it’s a good thing that has happened. What it has (the outcome against Australia) reminded us is that we have to play the World Cup very, very well,” said Dravid said in a program organized by ESPNCricinfo on Wednesday.
Virat Kohli’s men lost the five-match ODI series 2-3 against Australia despite having a 2-0 lead at the beginning of the series. However, this series lost gave a shock to the high-flying India who going into the upcoming World Cup as one of the favourites.
Rahul Dravid who was along with his former Indian teammate Sanjay Manjrekar further added, “In a way, I think its a good balancing factor. India has performed well in the last couple of years. There was a little bit of talk that we are almost going to walk in there and win the World Cup very easily because we are the No. 1 team and we have been dominating one-day cricket for the last couple of years.”
“But I don't find anything strange from my perspective watching the series. I still feel that we are going to be one of the favourites. But it's going to be tough. It's going to be competitive,” said India’s U-19 and A-team coach.
Then, both the speakers Dravid and Manjrekar gave their opinion on the workload factor in the IPL for the Indian team including Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya, reports PTI.
“Most players are smart about these things. They know how to handle their body. I don't think the players would put their body on the line. I was reading Patrick Cummins (Australia pacer) saying that he feels better bowling when he is constantly playing rather than having rested and coming back. So to each player, it's different. There cannot be a blanket case that all should be rested. We have to just trust the players. They know what needs to be done,” Dravid opined.
On the other hand, Manjrekar emphasized that BCCI should not put pressure on IPL franchises to rest some players in view of the following World Cup.
“My views won’t be appreciated. This is free enterprise. IPL is capitalism at its best. I don't think there should be any outside interference. It should be up to the franchises. Don't think there should be pressure (on IPL franchises) from the Cricket Board (BCCI) (to rest some players),” the former Test batsman said.
