New Delhi: Rahul Dravid, the last captain to lead India to a series win in England, said Friday the current side faced unusually tough conditions in the recently concluded five-match rubber and the batsmen must prepare better before embarking on the next English tour.
“Let’s just be honest first. The conditions in England were not easy for batting. I think batsmen of both the teams struggled. If you take out Virat Kohli from the equation, it was not an easy series for the batsmen. I have played in England quite a bit, the conditions can be tough but it is rare to find five Test matches which had conditions as tough as the one they found,” Dravid said in response to a query here.
“As I said, we need to look ahead. The next time we go there, we have to be better prepared for these kind of conditions and try and replicate conditions as best as we possibly can. It was tough out there. Let’s face it,” said the Indian batting great at the launch of Manipal Hospitals’ first branch in the national capital.
The performance left the Indian fans seething, and coach Ravi Shastri added fuel to the fire by calling the current team the best travelling side of the last 15-20 years, even though the results painted a different picture.
Dravid, however, did not read much into Shastri’s remark. “I am not really interested in commenting on Mr Shastri’s feelings. For me the main thing is what have we learnt from this series?
“What are the lessons that we need to take forward next time we go there? It doesn’t matter whether we are the best or not. These are irrelevant things for me,” said the 45-year-old.