In a recent interaction former Indian cricket team captain, Rahul Dravid spoke about his defensive technique. He shared how Pujara’s style of playing amazes him. Dravid believes that there will always be a role for a player like Pujara especially because of the latter’s technique.
Dravid on his defensive technique
Rahul Dravid, the National Cricket Academy Director and former Indian cricket captain recently spoke about his playing style which was often assessed as defensive. Dravid admitted, “It is a fair assessment. I kind of figured out what was my best way of scoring runs or contributing to the team or making a winning contribution in a game. If it meant occupying the crease for a long time or tiring the bowlers out or blunting out the new ball in difficult conditions so that it’s easier to play later, I did it.”
He further added, “I saw that as my job and took great pride in it and I tried to do that in the best possible way. That doesn’t mean I didn’t want to bat like Virendra Sehwag and hit those shots but may be my talent were different. My talent was determination and concentration and I worked on that.”
Dravid who represented India in 344 ODIs and scored 10899 runs wants to believe that he grew to be an attacking batsman with time. But he also agreed that he wanted to become a Test player since the beginning. “While my strike rate in ODI cricket weren’t up to the level of Sachin‘s or Viru’s but that’s the level that we played at back then. Obviously I can’t compare myself to Kohli or Rohit Sharma because they have blown the ODI paradigm to an all new level. But to be fair I grew up wanting to be a Test player.”
Dravid on Pujara
Cheteshwar Pujara is one contemporary name in Indian cricket which is often compared to the legendary Dravid. When Dravid was asked to comment on Pujara he opined, “Coming from a place like Saurashtra it was drilled into his head early on that he needed to do much more than other players. So he had to make every inning count and that’s the way he has built his batting. He has got a range of shots and he knows that.”
Dravid added, ” His concentration is excellent. And he knows that he is playing only one format of the game so he makes his every Test count. There will always be a place for a person like Pujara because his technique will always contribute to the winning of a game.”
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