‘We will have to work both on batting and bowling’ - Rahul Dravid reflects on Indore Test defeat ahead of series decider

Even though India are currently leading (2-1) and have already bagged the prestigious Border-Gavaskar Trophy, head coach Rahul Dravid believes that the team needs to improve in both batting and bowling departments. Notably, the Rohit Sharma-led side cannot afford any other result as a win in the fourth match of the series at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad will take them to the finals of the World Test Championship (WTC).

Ahead of which, Rahul Dravid opened up on India’s performance so far. He believes that in the Indore Test, 109 runs in the first innings wasn't good enough and even the bowlers leaked a few extra runs. Thus, he wants the team to improve in both areas of the game ahead of the fourth Test.

“We will have to work both on batting and bowling (departments). If you see the Indore Test, 109 runs in the first innings was not good enough. If we had scored 60-70 runs more, it would have been good. We also allowed them a few extra runs in the first innings in that situation and those conditions. So we will have to do better in both the areas of the game," Dravid said as quoted by News 18.

You just have to be realistic about what the benchmarks are now: Dravid

The former cricketer believes that pitches all over the globe have become a lot more challenging in the last three to four years. Now, analysing India’s performance in these tough conditions, he stated that the think tank should be realistic on what the benchmark should be in these testing conditions, as one good innings from any batter can change the complexion of the match.

“It’s just really about being realistic about what is a good performance on some of the challenging wickets that we are playing on. Not only here, but I think over the last many matches. I mean I think if you look at the last three or four years all over the world, I think wickets have generally, you know I think, got a lot more challenging. So you just have to be realistic about what the benchmarks are now, what the standards are, just understand that even in these kinds of games.

A really good performance can change the game and we saw that with Rohit (Sharma in Nagpur). We’ve seen that many times over here. So yeah, I think it’s just being realistic in our assessment of our batsmen and their averages and their numbers and we don’t really look so much into it,” Dravid added.

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