Following India's victory in second Test against England, head coach Rahul Dravid emphasised that the team management doesn't ask spin-friendly pitches when playing at home. He also highlighted the challenge of predicting how a pitch will behave over the course of a five-day Test match.
In the last series against England in 2021 and against Australia last year, matches were played on extremely turning tracks, often concluding within three days. However, the first two Tests in the ongoing series against England extended to four days. While the Hyderabad pitch was slow and conducive to turn, the Vizag surface remained relatively flat for most of the match. Rahul Dravid is known for his frequent pitch inspections before, during, and between sessions of the game.
Sourav Ganguly, Dravid's longtime teammate, recently stated that India don't necessarily need rank turner pitches because they possess a well-balanced bowling attack.
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We don't ask for rank turners: Dravid
When asked whether more pitches similar to Visakhapatnam might be expected in the upcoming three Tests, Dravid admitted that he, like everyone else, is uncertain about the matter.
“Curators make the pitches. We don't ask for rank turners. Obviously tracks in India would spin, how much they'll spin, how less they'll spin, how much. I'm not an expert, obviously, wickets in India in the course of four or five days, they do turn but how much they're going to turn. I sometimes get told they'll turn on the third day, but they turn on the first day. Sometimes I get told they'll turn on the second day and they don't turn till day four," Dravid said after India beat England by 106 runs in the second Test.
"So I'm sometimes as clueless as anybody else. We look at the wicket and we try and do the best we can on what we get. We go to Rajkot, we'll see what we can get and play with whatever we get in front of,” he added.
Coach Dravid expects more consistency from Indian batters
Indian batters have been seen throwing their wickets and failing to convert their starts into big scores in the ongoing Test series against England. In the series opener, there were three instances of batsmen reaching the 80s, and in Vizag, only Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill managed to convert their starts into big innings, while the rest failed to capitalise on their promising starts.
Dravid acknowledged that India could have amassed more runs in both innings, and he expects greater consistency from the younger generation of players.
“If I'm being honest, I think we left a few runs on the board in both the innings. Again, I think, that's maybe a function of the fact that we do have a lot of young batsmen coming through, I think still figuring out Test cricket a little bit, but you don't have a lot of time to figure out Test cricket. Certainly in the first innings, 396, I thought, was underpowered, we left 75 on the board. You win a toss, you have one guy who gets a double hundred. You should be pushing 475-450 in these conditions," the former India skipper stated.
"And then in the second innings, maybe after losing a couple of wickets, 250 was probably about par. So, it's a work in progress. We'll hopefully get a little bit better and we'll keep improving,” India's coach added.
Dravid all praise for English batting style
Dravid lauded England's Bazball-inspired batting, and emphasised that it doesn't rely on reckless slogging. He expressed that he had always anticipated a challenging series, and now, with both teams tied at 1-1, they head into the third Test in Rajkot.
“They (England) are playing very well. Whether you call it bazball or whatever you call it. I'm not sure how happy they are about it, but they are playing really good cricket. Let's be honest, they played well, they've shown good skills. it's not like wild slogging," said Dravid.
“They are actually showing some very good skills. Some of the shots they are playing require a lot of skill and ability. You can't just come there and execute those things and just say, well, I want to play attacking and not have the skills to execute it.
“So, I think there's more to it than just attacking cricket. I've seen at times they know when to pull back, when to attack. So they're playing slightly differently, no doubt about it, but they've been very successful and they're playing it well. We know we're up against the challenge and we're looking forward to it,” Dravid concluded.
India will enjoy a 10-day break before the commencement of the third match in Rajkot, scheduled for February 15. The BCCI selectors are expected to have a discussion with Kohli prior to announcing the squad for the remaining three matches.
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