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Lower your expectations - Rahul Dravid


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This is what Dravid has to say. Basicall  he is telling fans to lower their expectations not telling players to increase their performance. What a legendary coach.  :hatsoff:

 

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/ind-vs-aus-rahul-dravid-need-to-be-realistic-about-batting-in-these-challenging-conditions-1362193

 

Rahul Dravid: Need to be realistic about batting in these challenging conditions

India coach says the importance of World Test Championship points has led to an increase in result-oriented pitches

 

 

On November 29, 2021, New Zealand's last-wicket pair of Rachin Ravindra and Ajaz Patel hung on for 8.4 overs in fading light to deny India a Test win in Kanpur. That one wicket India failed to take cost them eight World Test Championship points.

 

Had India taken that one wicket - and all other global Test results remained what they were - they would now have 131 WTC points rather than 123. Ahead of the fourth Border-Gavaskar Test match, which begins in Ahmedabad on Thursday, they would only have needed a draw to seal a spot in June's WTC final at The Oval, rather than a win as they currently do.

 

That Kanpur Test was Rahul Dravid's first as India head coach. Two days before the Ahmedabad Test, Dravid referenced that Kanpur result while suggesting that the pressure to win World Test Championship points may have contributed to a glut of result-oriented, bowler-friendly pitches not just in India but all over the world.

 

"It could be one of the reasons, because yes, there is a huge premium on results," Dravid said on Tuesday. "You draw a game like Kanpur against New Zealand, where you take nine wickets in the second innings, you draw that game and that sets you back, in a home game.

 

"Every team is getting results at home or are putting in really good performances at home, so there is a premium on results. You get four points for a draw and you get 12 for a win, so there is a premium on that, there's no question about it."

 

India began the four-Test series against Australia needing three wins to confirm a place in the WTC final. They won the first two Tests and lost the third, and all three were low-scoring matches played on pitches where the ball turned sharply from day one. There have only been three 200-plus totals in 11 innings, and only four batters - two from each side - have averages north of 30.

 

Under such circumstances, Dravid felt it was important for teams to have realistic expectations from their batters and set benchmarks accordingly.

 

"It's really about being realistic about what is a good performance on some of the challenging wickets we are playing on, not only here," he said. "If you look at the last three-four years, all over the world I think wickets have got a lot more challenging, not only here. So you have to be realistic about what the benchmarks are now, what the standards are.  :hehe:

 

"Just understanding that in these kinds of games, just one good performance can change the game. We saw that with Rohit [Sharma]'s performance [his century in the first Test in Nagpur], we've seen that many times over here. It's just being realistic in our assessment of our batsmen, their averages and their numbers, and don't really look so much into it.  :phehe:

 

"Just backing our batsmen to understand that these are challenging conditions and they're the same for both sides. And for them to be able to use it as a challenge and an opportunity to do something special. It might not necessarily be about scoring big double-hundreds, but you know there might be scores of 50-60 or scores of 60-70 somewhere might be really, really good scores in some conditions."

 

Sometimes, even a score of 17 can count as a positive effort. :hysterical: KS Bharat made that score in India's first-innings total of 109 in Indore, and it came in a debut series of low scores for the wicketkeeper-batter. Dravid said India had no concerns over Bharat's batting, and had words of praise for his keeping.
 

 

"I think he [Bharat] has kept beautifully for us," Dravid said. "Even though it's not a big contribution he got 17 in the first innings [in Indore], got a nice contribution in the last Test match in Delhi, he played nicely and positively.

 

"So yeah, you need a little bit of luck sometimes in these situations, and he's probably not had that, but no, I think he's shaping up really well, he's been playing really well. He's keeping really nicely for us which is really important as well. I think you've just got to put, sometimes, the batting performances in perspective a little bit, and be a little bit understanding of it."

 

Given how little work the fast bowlers have got through in the series so far - Mohammed Siraj has bowled just 24 overs across three Tests - there could be a case for India to play an extra batter instead of a second fast bowler. While he didn't rule out this option, Dravid said the fast bowlers have made an impact even without bowling all that much, citing as examples the wicket of Usman Khawaja that Siraj took with his first ball of the series, and Umesh Yadav's three-wicket burst on the second morning in Indore. He also felt the batting ability of the three spinners gave India enough depth without needing the extra specialist batter.
 

 

"We just have to meet every condition separately," Dravid said. "These conditions might be very different to Indore last week, so I think everything's on the table. We try and put together what we think is our best side and gives us the best chance to get 20 wickets and the most balanced side.

 

"We've seen also at times that [the fast bowlers] haven't bowled a lot, but the kind of impact even a Siraj can have, picking up that early wicket in Nagpur, Umesh's spell the other day to pick up three wickets. So even though sometimes you may feel the bowlers are not bowling a lot, just having that balance and that ability at times to go back to a more balanced attack is really important.   [ Sorry @SRT100  & Kuldeep]

 

"The fact that when we are able to play three spinners we bat all the way up to 9, with Axar [Patel] or [R] Ashwin batting at 9 for us depending on left-right, it's a pretty good depth we've got on the batting side of things. We have to weigh everything, weigh all the options and then decide."
 
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Players are telling they have nothing to prove, SR is overrated, coaches telling fans to lower their expectation and still these ppl are paid a top $ and fortune amt of money.

 

Is this nt the height of unaccountability and not taking an ownership.They are suppose to be the top cricketers and coaches in the Country and instead of asking your team to pull-up their socks they are telling fans to chill.

 

 

Edited by tapandrun
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On such tailored pitches, batsmen in general will struggle. 
 

It is rare to have a situation where the ball is turning square, the spinners are making merry, and batsmen are hitting big scores as if it is a flat pitch!

 

To judge all types of players properly, India needs to use relatively sporting pitches. 

 

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24 minutes ago, tapandrun said:

Players are telling they have nothing to prove, SR is overrated, coaches telling fans to lower their expectation and still these ppl are paid a top $ and fortune amt of money.

 

Is this nt the height of unaccountability and not taking an ownership.They are suppose to be the top cricketers and coaches in the Country and instead of asking your team to pull-up their socks they are telling fans to chill.

 

 

it's because india is a mediocre team. fans who think otherwise are deluded and dravid is trying to bring them down to earth (and into hell)

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5 hours ago, tapandrun said:

Players are telling they have nothing to prove, SR is overrated, coaches telling fans to lower their expectation and still these ppl are paid a top $ and fortune amt of money.

 

Is this nt the height of unaccountability and not taking an ownership.They are suppose to be the top cricketers and coaches in the Country and instead of asking your team to pull-up their socks they are telling fans to chill.

 

 

well its chewt fans on this forum still waste their time opening match threads, crying, etc over these overpaid stars.. they care more about the results than players do. Maybe Indian fans need to retrospect if cricket is actually that important in the grand scheme of things..

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1 minute ago, Adamant said:

Nothing wrong with that 

 

The great aussies of the noughties collapsed chasing 100 odd on a 5th day pitch where Laxman earlier made 281.

 

It's very difficult to score in these conditions. 

The difference is Indian batsmen of that era were adept at playing on spinning tracks due to focus on first class cricket.... cricketers of today are preparing for their futures in IPL not test matches..

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8 minutes ago, LordPrabhzy said:

The difference is Indian batsmen of that era were adept at playing on spinning tracks due to focus on first class cricket.... cricketers of today are preparing for their futures in IPL not test matches..

If there was IPL at that time even those players would have done the same. 

 

Ipl has had a negative impact on our cricket, players like Hooda, Krunal, Dube etc get picked only bcoz of that crap, also sky in test cricket ahead of Sarfaraz. 

Edited by Adamant
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We have lowered our expectations with the middle order, all our expectations are with our bowlers and lower middle order who is saving our sorry ass again and again in challenging conditions.

 

Pant, Jadeja, Ashwin alongside Shami, Siraj, Umesh and Bumrah have played a key role in our success from last 2 years. Rest all have been freeloaders chipping 50's and hundreds here and there. 

 

Now there is no Pant to save and Jadeja is out of form....so these freeloaders don't have any excuse and hence are using different tricks to justify their place in the XI.

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8 hours ago, vvvslaxman said:

This is what Dravid has to say. Basicall  he is telling fans to lower their expectations not telling players to increase their performance. What a legendary coach.  :hatsoff:

 

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/ind-vs-aus-rahul-dravid-need-to-be-realistic-about-batting-in-these-challenging-conditions-1362193

 

Rahul Dravid: Need to be realistic about batting in these challenging conditions

India coach says the importance of World Test Championship points has led to an increase in result-oriented pitches

 

 

 

 

Dravid says be realistic while you changed the headline to "lower" for more eyeballs.. 

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