Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar has called for BCCI to send Rahul Dravid to Australia in an attempt to help out the Indian batsmen, after their horror show in the Adelaide Test match.
India was bowled out for their lowest Test score of 36 in the second innings of the Adelaide Test, as Hazlewood (5/8) and Cummins’ four wickets destroyed Indian batting in the first session of the third day. Australia went onto win the game by 8 wickets, going up 1-0 in the four-match series.
Now both teams will meet in Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test and will be without Virat Kohli and Mohammad Shami. Though Indian bowling was top-class in Adelaide, batting has become the talking point after not a single batsman was able to get double figures in the second innings in Adelaide and fell like nine pins.
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This has prompted former India skipper Dilip Vengsarkar to suggest to BCCI to send NCA head Rahul Dravid to Australia to help out the Indian batsmen, who might be short on confidence after the Adelaide debacle.
“The BCCI must rush Dravid to Australia to help the team. No one can guide the batsmen better on how to play the moving ball in those conditions. His presence will be a huge boost to the Indian team in the nets. In any case, the NCA has been shut due to Covid for the past nine months, leaving him with little to do," Vengsarkar told TOI on Saturday.
"The Board can make better use of Dravid by utilizing his services to help the national team, which will be without skipper Virat Kohli from now (last three Tests). Even if he has to serve a mandatory two-week quarantine period, he should be available for helping the Indian team at the nets before the third Test in Sydney, which will begin from January 7,” Vengsarkar said.
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Rahul Dravid has a terrific record in Australia with 1166 runs in 16 Tests at an average of 41.64. On the 2003-03 tour down under, Dravid amassed 619 runs at an average of 123.80 and had scored 233 and 72* in Adelaide to help India win a brilliant match.
“It is time that Dravid is asked to be involved with the Indian team more,” asserted Vengsarkar, who was a former national chief selector.
In 2017, as the head of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), Ganguly wanted Dravid to become the batting consultant for the Indian team while Shastri was made the head coach. However, Shastri’s choice of his own support staff was preferred.
Vengsarkar also opined that Indian batsmen will do better now that the series will be played with a traditional red ball instead of a pink one.
“I agree that the Aussies bowled a nagging line and length, but in Test match cricket, that is expected. The Indian batsmen, on their part, didn’t apply themselves and showed poor footwork and shot-selection. I guess India will breathe more freely with the red ball,” the Indian batting legend said.
(Times of India inputs)
