New Delhi: Rahul Dravid has no problem admitting that he would have found it difficult to remain in today’s international cricket given the way he batted slow. But at the same time, he believes that defense technics will continue to exist even though its importance is becoming less. Dravid said that batsmen like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have set new paradigms in ODI cricket. He said that but in Test cricket a batsman like Cheteshwar Pujara will always be needed. As far as he himself is concerned, he did not hesitate to be called defensive because he wanted to become a Test player from the beginning.
Rahul Dravid said in the ESPNcricinfo videocast with former Indian player Sanjay Manjrekar, “If it means staying at the crease for a long time or exhausting the bowlers or ending the glow of the new ball in difficult situations to make it easier to play later I used to do that.
He said, “I used to see it as my role and I am proud of it. It does not mean that I did not want to bat like Virender Sehwag or play shots like that, but maybe my skills are different. My skill was associated with commitment and concentration and I worked on it. ”
The former captain also said that he played in more than 300 ODIs, which means that his role was not limited to saving wickets. Dravid said, “Definitely the way I bat. I would not have survived (in the team) if I had to bat like that today. Look at today’s strike rate. My strike rate in ODI cricket was not like that of Sachin (Tendulkar) or Viru (Sehwag), but then we used to play cricket in the same way. ”
He said, “I cannot compare myself to Kohli or Rohit Sharma, as they have taken ODI paradigms to a new level. But to be honest, I went ahead with the idea of becoming a Test player. “Cricket has now become a big-scoring game, but Dravid said that with defensive batting, someone got a tough spell in the best format (Test) of the game. And helps to get out of difficult situations.
