Rahul Dravid. (Source – Getty Images)
Each time India play Australia, particularly a Test series Down Under, brings about an exhilarating sense of excitement for the same. Even for this particular five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy, there has hardly been a day which has gone by without there being a heap of comments made on the two sides by former cricketers. Hopping on the bandwagon was former Indian cricketer and ex-head coach, Rahul Dravid.
On being asked whether India would miss the services of a No. 3 batter like Cheteshwar Pujara and himself, Dravid sprung onto Shubman Gill whom he thought had all the calibre in the world to carry the Indian batting order to great heights in the forthcoming tour.
“Well, they’ve got Shubman Gill, who is a terrific player. He’s had some great success in Australia the last time. Everyone talks about Rishabh’s 80 [89] (89* [138]) and rightly so, but I think Shubman got 91 to set the game up on that fifth morning. So no, he’s a fine, fine player, he’s a great kid, and he’s learning. Bats differently, slightly, to me and Pujara, but still a very, very good player,” stated Dravid, as quoted by ESPN.
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Runs on the top will be important: Dravid
Dravid also highlighted the importance of the opening batters as well as those coming beneath them to bat against time, so as to help the batters in the lower-middle order leverage the perks which come with batting against an old Kookaburra ball in Australia.
“Runs on the top will be important. Now whether it comes from one, two, three or four, it doesn’t really matter. You’re going to need one of that top-four or two of the top-four to have a great series. That really helps in Australia. With the Kookaburra ball and those conditions, if you can get through that initial period and have your top-four soak in a lot of that period, it really allows your lower-order to be able to control and dominate those games,” added Dravid.
With crucial World Test Championship points at stake, it would be expected for India to deliver some strong performances with the bat. After having been bruised by New Zealand in what was a total obliteration at home, India would seek to come out stronger against a determined set of Aussies.