World Cup: 'Respectfully disagree' with average rating given to Chennai and Ahmedabad wickets, says head coach Rahul Dravid

It was a rare moment when the ever so cool and guarded Rahul Dravid decided to call an axe an axe. He said one should see all skills on display, the ability to rotate strike through the middle. Writes Meenakshi Rao

Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh): India head coach Rahul Dravid vociferously batted for the Chennai and Ahmedabad wickets which have been rated average by the ICC in the current World Cup and come under scrutiny for low scoring totals and turn and carry.

"I will respectfully disagree with the average rating given for those two wickets. They were good wickets. If you only want to see 350 games and rate only those wickets as good, then I disagree with that. You have to see different skills on display as well. If we wanted to see only 4s and 6s being hit, we have T20 wickets… (If) only those are good wickets, then why are the bowlers here? Why have spinners at all, for that matter? If you all want spinners to come in and bowl 10-60 and go so that you can watch fours and sixes … one or two balls spin and you rate that average,” he said.

It was a rare moment when the ever so cool and guarded Rahul Dravid decided to call an axe an axe. He said one should see all skills on display, the ability to rotate strike through the middle. “See the quality of watching (Ravindra) Jadeja bowl or a (Mitchell) Santner bowl or a (Adam) Zampa bowl or watching Kane Williamson rotate the strike through the middle, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul the way they batted against Australia – those are skills as well. Those also need to come out and be shown and displayed,” he added.

In Delhi and Pune, rotating the strike in the middle overs wasn't necessarily a difficult skill. The contest was about who could hit more 4s and 6s. That's not the only way to judge wickets. “I think we need to have a better way of deciding what is good and what is average,” he added.

Dravid cited the example of the T20 World Cup in Australia to buttress his point. “In Perth, we played a game for 138 runs. India played South Africa, seaming and swinging all over the place. That was a T20 game. I don't know what rating was given to that. I hope that was rated average as well,” he said.

The coach also talked about the World T20 Final in which Pakistan played England and again only 130-odd runs were scored in a T20 game. “I am not complaining. I think it is great. That wicket at Perth was good. It challenged different skills. I am saying this even though we lost those games. Sometimes wickets will turn a bit, sometimes they will seam a bit, they will swing a bit, they will bounce a bit. If all we want to see is sixes and fours being hit and 350 scores as good wickets, then I disagree,” he reiterated.

For Rahul Dravid, a tournament is not good enough if it does not have variety in which sometimes 350 runs are scored and there are wickets where the ball seams or turns, bringing the spinners into play. “You have a long tournament, you are playing in India. In different parts of the country, there will be different wickets, different challenges. The teams that can cope with all of those challenges are the ones that will be successful,” he said.

“You want to standardise everything and make every wicket a 350 wicket? There are very good skills on display, even in a 350-plus wicket. Yes, we see some great hitting. We see some terrific shots being played. But other skills get missed out. When it spins a little bit or something happens bringing the bowlers into the game, you start rating them as average. Where does it leave the bowlers? Why are they coming then? If all we want to see is fours – like I said - we have T20, play T20 matches then,” he argued.