India's head coach Rahul Dravid expressed a mixture of satisfaction and concern after India managed to level the series against England in Visakhapatnam.
While acknowledging the team's resilience and individual brilliance, Dravid highlighted some areas of improvement that still need attention.
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The second Test in Visakhapatnam was a roller-coaster ride for both India and England. Yashasvi Jaiswal's remarkable double-century in the first innings provided a strong foundation for India, but the team's batting order struggled to provide consistent support, with the next highest score being a mere 34.
With the ball, Jasprit Bumrah's reverse swing spell rattled England, giving India a substantial lead. In the third innings, Shubman Gill broke out of a slump to score a century, yet once again, there was a lack of substantial contributions from the rest of the batting lineup.
Rahul Dravid not too pleased with India's lack of assertiveness
Dravid acknowledged the pivotal role played by individual brilliance in keeping India in the game during the initial stages.
“We were put under pressure at various times, but I think a couple of individual brilliances kept us in the game in the first couple of days,” he said, adding that Jaiswal's outstanding innings of 209 in the first innings and Bumrah's impactful spell played a crucial role in India's early advantage.
Despite taking a sizeable first innings lead of 143 runs, India couldn't fully capitalize on it due to the frequent loss of wickets. Dravid praised the resilience of the batsmen, especially Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, for navigating India to safety.
He emphasized that there were no moments in the game where they felt they could force the play, highlighting the importance of soaking up pressure in challenging situations.
Dravid further discussed the need for this young batting group to gain experience and make better decisions in terms of when to defend and when to attack. He explained, “If you want people to play with a little bit of intent and play a little bit positively, then you're gonna have to accept a few mistakes.”
Dravid emphasized that it's essential for the players to read the game situation correctly and make the right decisions regarding when to apply pressure and when to adopt a more conservative approach.
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Jasprit Bumrah wraps things up in Vizag as #TeamIndia win the 2nd Test and level the series 1⃣-1⃣#TeamIndia | #INDvENG | @Jaspritbumrah93 | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/KHcIvhMGtD
One of the key areas of concern for Dravid was the missed opportunity to maximize their score. He believed that the team left runs on the board in both innings, suggesting that the young batsmen are still adapting to the demands of Test cricket.
He expressed disappointment, saying, “I think we left a few runs on the board in both innings. In the first innings, 396 I thought was under par. You win a toss. We have one guy with a double-hundred, you should be pushing 450, 475 in these conditions.”
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The discussion also touched upon the ongoing debate regarding pitch conditions in India. Former captain Sourav Ganguly had suggested that India should consider preparing pitches that favor fast bowlers.
In response, Dravid highlighted that curators are responsible for preparing pitches and mentioned his own lack of expertise in predicting how pitches would behave. He stressed that the team's approach is to adapt to the conditions they are presented with and make the best use of them.
While India managed to level the series against England, Rahul Dravid acknowledged that there is room for improvement given the lack of assertiveness in the victory at home.
