India started off the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in style as they secured an emphatic victory over Australia in the first Test in Nagpur to lead the four-match series 1-0. Rohit Sharma's brigade will look to continue their winning momentum in the second tie as well with World Test Championship final race heating up. The second Test between India and Australia will be played from February 17 in Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi. Right ahead of the slugfest, India's head coach Rahul Dravid addressed the media in the pre-match press conference where he talked at length on several topics. He was also asked about the dearth of quality left-arm pacers in India's side to which Dravid was seen giving a savage reply.
"A left arm fast bowler brings a lot of variation. You forgot the name of Zaheer Khan. But selectors and management definitely watch out for these talents. Arshdeep Singh played well in the recent ODIs, he also played Ranji Trophy, where he picked 4-5 wickets. He's young, he's developing," Dravid said.
Dravid also admitted that the selectors are always on the lookout for such talent but he also clarified that merely being a pacer who bowls left handed wouldn't earn that player a spot in the senior team. There are other guys who are performing. But only being a left-handed pacer will not help you get into the side, you need to perform as well," he added.
"We do look at it, we know the importance but if you're only a left hand fast bowler then you cannot be considered. Be it Zaheer Khan or Ashish Nehra they didn't get a chance just because they were left hand fast bowler but they were good," Dravid further added.
Dravid was then interrupted by a journalist's question which cited Mitchell Starc and Shaheen Afridi’s example while highlighting how left-handed pacers have done exceedingly well against Team India. It was then Dravid came up with a savage reply.
“Agar 6ft 4' bowler hain aapke paas toh aap batado (If you know someone 6ft4 bowler let us know). You took the names of Mitchell Starc and Shaheen Afridi, but in India we rarely find someone as tall as 6ft 5' who bowls left hand fast,” Dravid said.
"We do look at it, we know the importance but if you're only a left hand fast bowler then you cannot be considered. Be it Zaheer Khan or Ashish Nehra they didn't get a chance just because they were left hand fast bowler but they were good," he further added.
Dravid also admitted that the seletors are closely observing left-arm pacers like Arshdeep, Khaleel Ahmed, and Mukesh Choudhary.
Meanwhile, coach Dravid also gave an update on Shreyas Iyer's injury and his chances of featuring in the second Test against Australia.
Aafter undergoing rehabilitation at National Cricket Academy, Bengaluru, Shreyas is likely to walk back into the playing eleven for the second Test.
“It is always good to have somebody back from injury. We never like to lose people to injuries and it is never nice for a team, nice for that individual and glad that he (Iyer) is fit. We will take a call after a couple of training sessions,” Dravid told the reporters on February 15.
Iyer’s match fitness will be assessed by Dravid and team’s medical staff after the second and final training session on February 16.
Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023 schedule:
2nd Test at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi - February 17-21
3rd Test at Holkar Stadium, Indore, March 1-5
4th Test at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad - March 9-13
India’s squad for the first two Tests vs Australia: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav.
Australia Test squad for India tour: Pat Cummins (capt), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.
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