Rahul Dravid Sheds Light on How to Preserve Test Cricket
Rahul Dravid (Photo by Tony Marshall/Getty Images)

The former Indian skipper Rahul Dravid has shed light on Test cricket. In the age of T20 Cricket, we have seen that Test cricket is on the downward slope. The popularity of the red ball version is on the demise and it is crucial to keep the essence of the purest format of the game. In fact, we have noted that the crowd hasn’t turned up for the red ball version in numbers, which is not a good sign.

However, Rahul Dravid believes it is crucial to give time to the process. Thus, it is imperative to trust the procedure and be patient with the whole planning. The Wall also believes that more opportunities should be given to players at the India A and Under-19 level, to keep polishing them.

Rahul Dravid, India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup
Rahul Dravid. (Photo by Ashley Allen/Getty Images)

Rahul Dravid comes up with great suggestions.

“In red-ball cricket, we have talent and decent backups, but again it is a work in progress. Work constantly needs to happen. It is not a one-time thing or a two-year thing. I think it is important to tighten the process or programme that exists at Under-19 and A-team levels. Make it more robust. Make sure there are opportunities every year,” Dravid told The Week in an interview.

Meanwhile, there is no doubt that India has a lot of depth when we talk about limited overs players. In fact, the reason is simple – because of the exposure of the ODI and T20 cricket. However, the same doesn’t hold true for the Test cricket.

Read More  RCB is ready for yet another Virat Kohli vs Gautam Gambhir face off claims Dinesh Karthik
Rahul Dravid, Ravi Shastri
Rahul Dravid. (Photo by Tony Marshall/Getty Images)

“There is now a path for people who do well in the Ranji Trophy. I definitely feel that in white-ball cricket we have lot of depth, largely due to the amount of white-ball cricket that is played. In red-ball cricket, we have talent and decent backups, but again it is a work in progress.”

Quality batsmanship has taken a downward slope.

In fact, Dravid believes that the level of batsmanship in the recent past has gone up if we take into account the power-hitting abilities. The reason behind for it is also the same, more limited overs exposure. However, if we take into consideration the player’s character to fight it out in the middle, the batting skills have taken a downward slope.

Rahul Dravid, Matthew Renshaw
Rahul Dravid. (Photo by Tony Marshall/Getty Images)

“Batsmanship comprises of many things. If you were to view it from the prism of shot-making ability, innovation, power, ability to hit sixes and scoring at a quicker rate, then there is no doubt batsmanship has improved. [But], if you view it from the prism of batting time, being able to get through challenging times and being able to play on tracks on which seam or spin is more, then maybe batsmanship has declined a little bit,” pointed out Dravid.

“Players now have to juggle between three formats and may not be getting to have as much red-ball time and conditions”.

Rahul Dravid said that there are players who don’t play any red ball cricket for a period of six months. Thus, they find it difficult to straightway hit the ground running in Test cricket.

Read More  "Don't know what's going to happen" - Virat Kohli vs Gautam Gambhir clash worries ex-India pacer
India vs Windies 2018, Virat Kohli, Prithvi Shaw
BCCI

“There were boys who came on the ‘A’ tour with us to England, who had not played red-ball cricket for six-to-seven months! It would never have happened before. The time they get to practice red-ball cricket has altered drastically.”

Rahul Dravid has once again hit the nail on the head. Dravid is going a fine job in nurturing the young talent of the country and he is showing the right path to the young players.

Cricket is my first love. I want to be a wordsmith. I want to weave magic with my words.