Mumbai: Reflecting on the outcome of the recently concluded India-Australia series, former India captain Rahul Dravid believes that India’s recent ODI series defeat to Australia came just at the right time and could end up helping India’s cause ahead of the World Cup. India led 2-0 in the five-match series, but crashed to a stunning 3-2 defeat after a lengthy gap. “In a way, I think it’s a good balancing factor. India has performed well in the last couple of years,” Dravid, currently India’s Under-19 coach, added.
“There was a little bit of talk that we are almost going to walk in there and win the World Cup very easily because we are the No. 1 team and we have been dominating one day cricket for the last couple of years. But I don’t find anything strange from my perspective watching the series. I still feel that we are going to be one of the favourites. But it’s going to be tough. It’s going to be competitive,” he said at the event organised by ESPNcricinfo. Both Dravid and Sanjay Manjrekar stressed that the Indian Premier League (IPL) should be left alone and answered queries on the much-talked about workload factor in the IPL for key Indian players.
“Most players are smart about these things. They know how to handle their body. I don’t think the players would put their body on the line. I was reading Patrick Cummins [Australia pacer] saying that he feels better bowling when he is constantly playing rather than having rested and coming back,” Dravid said. “So to each player, it’s different. There cannot be a blanket case that all should be rested. We have to just trust the players. They know what needs to be done,” he said.
Manjrekar was also of the opinion that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) should not put pressure on IPL franchises to rest players in view of the following World Cup. “My views won’t be appreciated. This is free enterprise. IPL is capitalism at its best. I don’t think there should be any outside interference. It should be up to the franchises. Don’t think there should be pressure [on IPL franchises] from the Cricket Board [BCCI] [to rest some players],” the former Test batsman opined.
