NEWS
Follow UsIndia head coach Rahul Dravid reckons the way Virat Kohli trains day in and day out is a lesson for a lot of younger players coming in. Kohli, who did not have a single international century has already struck a T20I and an ODI ton this year and will look to add to his Test tally in the series against Bangladesh.
Dravid feels the way Kohli prepares regardless of his form has been one of the highlights of his tenure so far.
"Virat has an incredible template in 50-over cricket. His record speaks for itself. He's got a good template in one-day cricket wherein he knows when to be aggressive and when to control a game. It's incredible to watch," Dravid said to the broadcasters of the India-Bangladesh Test series.
"I know he's hungry, he feels he is back, training as hard as I've ever seen him. That's been one of the highlights over the last year and a half - just watch the way he trains, he prepares - that never changes irrespective of whether he is doing well or not. That's a lesson for a lot of the younger players coming into the group."
Dravid also feels a lot of younger players will also benefit from playing against Bangladesh in their backyard given how will they have fared at home.
"There are a lot of guys for whom this is a completely new experience of playing Test cricket here in Bangladesh. They've played a few one-day games but not Test cricket. It's nice to be able to play in all parts of the world in Test playing countries. Bangladesh has been playing some good cricket at home recently. It's a good challenge for the boys. They are really excited about it," he said.
India have two Tests against Bangladesh and Dhaka followed by four at home against Australia in this World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. India have to win most, if not all, to make the WTC Final, but Dravid feels that it will not be wise to look that far ahead.
"It's one step at a time. I don't think we can start looking at the sixth one when we start here. We've got to win this one first. We've got to play our best cricket to give ourselves a chance to win this and then go to Dhaka and take it as we go," Dravid said.
"We know we've got a challenge on our hand. We know we've got to win majority of our games in the World Test Championship but we are not going to get there if we don't take the first steps well. So, we've got to focus on this one and see how the cards fall and how it goes and see what we've got to do in the series against Australia."
We've been witnessing many results these days in Test cricket and Dravid puts that down to players and team's ability to adapt to any situation, enabling them to play accordingly.
"Teams have already been aggressive. Teams are playing for results a lot more now especially with the WTC points at stake. I still think adaptability is going to be very important in Test cricket," the India head coach reckons.
"That ability to play aggressively with the kind of squad you have or the kind of position you find yourself in the game and then the opportunity to be able to play a difficult period or a difficult day of Test cricket either with the bat or with the ball and knuckle down and play some tough, hard cricket as well.
"The teams that have that adaptability or that ability to be able to switch even in between a Test match are the ones that are going to be very successful," he further explained.
