The Indian cricket team once again failed to perform when it mattered the most, with Australia emerging triumphant by 209 runs in the ICC World Test Championship final. Be it the bowling unit or the batting unit, the players hardly managed to create an impact. India head coach Rahul Dravid understandably had to answer some difficult questions after the match, particularly from his former teammates Sourav Ganguly and Harbhajan Singh.
Ganguly, the former BCCI president and India captain, asked Dravid about the ‘falling averages’ of Indian batters over the last couple of years. Dravid defended the downfall, suggesting averages are falling in every team as the pitches in Tests have become more result oriented.
“Our top-5 is quite experienced. These players will be considered legends; the same boys won the series in Australia, the same boys won in England as well. They are good players. But I accept, and I think they will as well, that they didn’t do justice to the high standards that they’ve set for themselves,” Dravid said in response to Ganguly’s question during a chat on Star Sports.
“We are working on it. Some of the wickets have been quite challenging. This was a good wicket, I admit, but there were many conditions that weren’t quite good for batting. In WTC cycle, every match is important. We can’t play for draw anymore. We have difficult wickets in India, and result-oriented wickets are there outside India as well. So, all players have taken a hit on their averages, it’s not just our players.
“But yes, we know that we need to score runs on the board to give our bowlers a chance. That’s what we used to do,” the India head coach said, defending his batters.
Gavaskar, however, was in no mood to buy Dravid’s point, saying the same players who are ‘Dadas in India’ falter in overseas conditions.
“It doesn’t matter what the other players’ averages are. We are talking about the Indian team now. The Indian players’ averages are falling, something has to be done. The batting is the one whiich is causing problems. Why is it happening? That’s something we need to look at. You bat well in India, you are the ‘dadas’ in India, but then, some of them falter outside,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.
Gavaskar also questioned the ‘level of coaching’ in the Indian team, saying it’s not about wins and losses but the manner of the defeat that hurts.
“Is the level of coaching not what you require? Is there not much of analysis about areas where you lack? Honest self-assessment is an absolute necessity after this. One team is going to win, one is going to lose. It’s how you lose, that’s the thing. That hurts.
“We have also been knocked out. And we have been miserable. You cannot say that the current lot is beyond criticism. You have to be analytical about what happened out there. Was our approach right? Was our selection right? You can’t brush this under the carpet,” a disappointed Gavaskar said.
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