Dravid hails Kohli's move to play against Australia 'A'

Image
Press Trust of India Chennai
Last Updated : Jul 25 2015 | 7:48 PM IST
Rahul Dravid today hailed Virat Kohli's decision to play against Australia A, saying it shows Test skipper's intent and keenness to prepare himself for the upcoming Sri Lanka series.
"It is great. It is fantastic that Virat wants to come and play. In fact, he spoke to me almost three weeks ago wanting to play at least one match in the series. It is nice that he is very keen to play and prepare himself for the Sri Lanka tour. He wants match practice and we are happy," Dravid said at a press conference.
The India A coach said it indeed was a good chance for youngsters to catch attention of the Test captain.
"It is always nice to have the Indian captain (in team) and I think it will be great boost for lot of the young guys in the team who want to impress the captain. It is better way to do it in front of him. He is playing in the same eleven."
Talking about the unofficial Test that ended in a draw against Australia A, Dravid said the slow wicket deprived the teams of a result.
"We knew that if we are to force a result, we need to get them at 40 for 3 early on. If they were to get the result they need to get 170 or so losing one or two wickets. It was a slow wicket and was not easy to score runs, especially off the faster bowlers. It spun a little bit later on but it is a classic five-day wicket. Unfortunately, for us to force a result was not really easy," he said.
Yet Dravid drew a lot of positives from the game.
"Good all round positives. Pragyan Ojha coming back from the issues that he had and Amit Mishra getting in to the Indian side. They are still bowling well. I guess it is one of the positives from their perspective. The conditions were not ideal for the seamers. I thought the two seamers and Vijay Shankar bowled with good disciplines and it was nice.
*Subscribe to Business Standard digital and get complimentary access to The New York Times

Smart Quarterly

₹900

3 Months

₹300/Month

SAVE 25%

Smart Essential

₹2,700

1 Year

₹225/Month

SAVE 46%
*Complimentary New York Times access for the 2nd year will be given after 12 months

Super Saver

₹3,900

2 Years

₹162/Month

Subscribe

Renews automatically, cancel anytime

Here’s what’s included in our digital subscription plans

Exclusive premium stories online

  • Over 30 premium stories daily, handpicked by our editors

Complimentary Access to The New York Times

  • News, Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter & The Athletic

Business Standard Epaper

  • Digital replica of our daily newspaper — with options to read, save, and share

Curated Newsletters

  • Insights on markets, finance, politics, tech, and more delivered to your inbox

Market Analysis & Investment Insights

  • In-depth market analysis & insights with access to The Smart Investor

Archives

  • Repository of articles and publications dating back to 1997

Ad-free Reading

  • Uninterrupted reading experience with no advertisements

Seamless Access Across All Devices

  • Access Business Standard across devices — mobile, tablet, or PC, via web or app

More From This Section

First Published: Jul 25 2015 | 7:48 PM IST

Next Story