Port of Spain: A seamless transition in the Indian cricket team has been attributed to a robust domestic infrastructure by India national coach Rahul Dravid. One of the Indian greats, Dravid, along with Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, has himself been a part of passing the baton to a young MS Dhoni.
Now that the shift has started with the first blow being received by Cheteshwar Pujara, who took on the mantle from Dravid to make the number 3 slot his own, has a young Shubman Gill trying to prove his worth. He was dropped one down to accommodate for 20-year-old left-handed batter Yashasvi Jaiswal on the back of phenomenal form in the IPL and domestic cricket. Jaiswal, too, didn't take long to hit his first hundred in Test cricket, an innings of 171, that had the amalgamation of everything that a Test batter must possess.
The innings by Jaiswal was a delight to watch where he combined his defensive and attacking technique that prompted India to register their innings and 141-run win against the West Indies and start their World Test Championship cycle of 2023-27 afresh after their consecutive loss in the WTC Final.
"It's a tribute to the domestic system," Dravid said in the media interaction on the eve of the second and final Test of the series here. "It's a tribute to the environment around the team that a lot of young players are able to come in and perform straightaway.
"A lot of credit should go to the domestic system for producing these kind of players, especially in the batting department, and also the relaxed environment the team here has been able to create to allow young players to come and express themselves.
Read: Asia Cup to start from August 30, India to play arch-rivals Pakistan at Kandy
"So it's nice from our perspective as a coach to see young players come in, perform straightaway and do really well, whether it's Yashasvi in the last game or the way Shubman has grown over the last six-eight months or seeing the way Ishan (Kishan) came in and kept in the last game on a difficult wicket, he did a really good job.
"So there's been a lot of young players, we've seen even in one days and T20s, who've come through and done really well. So yeah, credit to our domestic system, NCA and a lot of other people who can make that possible for us." Dravid also had a word of caution to the youngsters and said they would have to face stronger challenges ahead.
"I know that people like Jaiswal and Gill will be faced with other tougher challenges and more challenges as they go on and they play more cricket. You know, teams will start getting to know them better," Dravid said. "I think even in this Test, we'll see the West Indies will probably come up with tactics and strategies. Having seen Jaiswal in the last Test match, they'll respond to that and that'll be the challenge for Jaiswal as well as to respond to the tactics and the strategies that the West Indies are going to come up with in this game.
"Today, I think as a young player, once you get known and once you start performing well, teams start planning and preparing for you better, so you need to respond to that as well. So looking forward to that, but really excited to see his talent and to see how well he performed and just the way he adapted I was really pleased to see that he was willing to play an attacking game when required but also knuckle down and be defensive and work hard for his runs when it's required, and as a coach nothing pleases you more than that," he added.
About the Asia Cup, whose scheduled was declared yesterday, with India, Pakistan mega clash set to take place in Kandy, Sri Lanka on September 2, Dravid laid emphasis on focusing on one game apiece as the probability of three games between the two teams might be in store. The teams are clubbed in the same group in the Asia Cup, and chances are that they play three matches in the tournament -- league phase, super-4 and the finals.
"I don't believe in counting my chickens too much. I want to play one game at a time," Dravid said at the prospect of taking on Pakistan thrice.
"We know we have to play Pakistan and Nepal in the first two games, we need to focus on that, we need to play good cricket, we need to win those games and then see where the tournament goes. If we get the opportunity to play them three times, I think that is fantastic, that means we reach the final of the tournament and hopefully Pakistan reach the final as well. That will be a great contest and great for us and we certainly aim to do that, we certainly want to play right up to the final and win that final but we have to take the first two steps before.
'WI will rise again'
West Indies may have hit rock bottom following their failure to qualify for the ODI World Cup, but Dravid said there's no dearth of talent and they would rise again with emphasis on infrastructure and resources. The ODI World Cup qualifiers earlier this month shook the cricketing world, when the West Indies, the winners of the first two editions of the showpiece, after their successive losses to hosts Zimbabwe, the Netherlands and Scotland.
"Yes, from a West Indies perspective, I can sense and people have spoken about the disappointments they do feel," Dravid said. "But one of the great things that people have here in the Caribbean is just the love of the sport and how they are keen to get behind and still rally around the West Indies, in spite of the difficult situations.
"I don't see any dearth of talent here. I see great talent, I see great ability and I'm sure that just with the right kind of maybe emphasis on infrastructure and resources, I don't see why West Indies cricket can't go back to the glory days."
Dravid was also quick to point out that it's in the white ball cricket the West Indies as a cricketing nation has suffered, unlike in Test format. As a matter of fact, the West Indies had lost just one of their last six Test series at home -- against South Africa (2021).
The Windies had beaten Bangladesh and England, while series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka were drawn. "So you know, I think we need to put things in perspective as well," Dravid said. "While yes, I think the pressure and the challenge that the current generation of West Indian players face, is that they always get compared to the great West Indian sides of the 80s and the 90s.
"You know, this late 70s, the 80s and the 90s or some of the teams in the 50s and the 60s and that's not an easy comparison for anyone to compare your team against a legendary team like the one that Clive Lloyd led or Viv Richards led. I think that is gonna be tough for anyone. You know, it's not going to be easy," he signed off.
