Team India head coach Rahul Dravid knows how to be battle-ready for the World Cup. Having donned the blue jersey for the World Cup thrice, he knows exactly the pitfalls to making it to the playing eleven.
Few reserves who couldn't find a place in India's World Cup squad have got the chance to show their calibre in the three-match ODI series against Australia starting Friday.
Speaking to the media on the eve of the first ODI in Mohali’s IS Bindra Stadium, Rahul Dravid was satisfied with the tough outings the home team was getting ahead of the World Cup. Before the ODIs against Australia, India had played three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka and New Zealand at home as well.
Capping the World Cup preps with the Australia series gives Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma enough match competition as well as chances to sort out the last-minute issues like the form and fitness of a few players like KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer.
When asked about his views on the series against Australia, Dravid said, "For starters, we want to win the series. But also (the series) gives us an opportunity as there are some players in our team, who need game time, coming back from injuries and some time away from the game. For them, it would be nice to have these games in the lead-up to the World Cup.
"With our fast bowlers, you can see some of our boys are not playing, we would also like to rotate them a little bit. For others, it would be nice to give them three tough games before the World Cup."
On players vital to the team like Suryakumar Yadav not getting enough batting time Dravid said he doesn't think Suryakumar needs to worry about being left out. "He is in it and we have made our decision to do that and we completely back it. We back him because he has quality and ability that we have seen. Yes, we know we have at the moment seen it in T20 cricket but we know the kind of impact a player like him can make. He can change the course of a game.
"There is total clarity on the fact that we are completely behind him and hopefully, he will be able to turn it around. Hopefully, he is someone who will get these three games and at least the first couple certainly to be able to develop and continue his journey as an ODI cricketer. But in terms of selection, we have made our decision," the coach added.
Talking about resting big players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the first two games against the five-time World Cup winners, Dravid said, “It is really important to get them to the World Cup physically and mentally in space that they want to be in. They know how they need to prepare themselves and a lot of these decisions are made in discussions with them. I think based on those discussions, we come up with mutual decisions to take them off and (let them)refresh mentally more than anything else. They will come back to Rajkot and then it will be a tough couple of months ahead for us."
Part-time bowlers have been a matter of worry for coaches and captains and this WC will see them trying out their bench strength. For India, vice-captain Hardik Pandya has been a precious all-rounder.
On the shrinking role of part-time bowlers and their scarcity, Dravid said: “I think it could be because of the rule change. Suddenly you have gone from four fielders inside the ring to five fielders inside the ring. I think that has drastically changed the ability of part-time bowlers to be able to bowl in the middle phase. If you remember Sachin, Sourav, Sehwag, Yuvraj, and Raina bowling in this phase, a lot of these guys started when there used to be only four fielders in the ring.
"In that kind of situation, you could lose a lot of part-time bowlers and not only us, a lot of teams did that."
"Partly it is because of two new balls, you have got five fielders in the ring in the middle overs. It is becoming more and more difficult for them. It's not that they are not bowling in the nets, lot of bowlers do try. If you don't get opportunities to bowl in the middle then it becomes very difficult to develop your skill. And more and more captains and coaches are vary of the rules and so they will always look to play a genuine bowler in the mix because of the two new balls and five fielders in the ring," he added.
On the right place for Ishan Kishan to bat, Dravid was hesitant to reveal his cards. “ I don't want to disclose our playing XI and all our thoughts here. But the idea is to be able to give them all the game time. Also if possible, bat them in the positions that we think they might be playing in the World Cup. We would be looking for people to bat in the position, we think they might be playing in the World Cup at some point of time. He can bat down the middle order and he is that spare batter in the team who can bat up the order we have seen that. He gives us that flexibility apart from the fact that he is a wicketkeeper. “
On KL Rahul’s return, Dravid expressed satisfaction with his fitness and underlined the need for the right-hander to spend time in the middle.
Finally, on off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s inclusion, Dravid said the Chennai tweaker’s experience was crucial. “Having someone of Ashwin’s experience to come back is always good for us. Someone like Ashwin provides you with that experience, that ability to also contribute with the bat at No 8,” the coach said.
