India Cricket Team head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma agree on most things but not on the target set by England in the IND vs ENG 1st Test. After India’s 28-run loss in Hyderabad, Rohit Sharma said “230 was gettable” but Rahul Dravid differed. He said “230 was a challenging target” instead.
Ollie Pope scored 196 as England posted 420 in the 2nd innings of IND vs ENG 1st Test, setting India a 231-run target to chase in Hyderabad.
What did Rohit Sharma say?
“Cricket is played over four days, so it’s hard to pinpoint where it went wrong. Having got a lead of 190, we thought we were very much in the game. Exceptional batting, one of the best that I have seen in Indian conditions by an overseas batter, Ollie Pope played a brilliant knock. But I thought 230 was gettable, there wasn’t too much in the pitch. We didn’t bat well enough to get to the score,” Rohit Sharma said at the post-match presentation.
What did Rahul Dravid say?
A few minutes later at the post-match press conference, Rahul Dravid had a different take.
“To be honest 230 was a pretty challenging score on this wicket in the fourth innings. It is always going to be challenging in India; a score like 230 on a Day 4 wicket which was turning. So, we probably shouldn’t have been casing 230. It would have taken truly exceptional innings to chase that. To me, that was the difference in the game,” Rahul Dravid said.
Bowling vs batting
There was another area where the captain-coach duo differed. While indirectly Rohit Sharma blamed poor batting for the loss in IND vs ENG 1st Test, Rahul Dravid admitted spinners failed to counter England’s sweeps and reverse sweeps. Dravid further backed the batters saying it was a challenging wicket to bat on Day 4.
What did Rohit Sharma say?
“We didn’t bat well enough to get to the score. I went and checked where we bowled, we bowled in the right areas.When you finish the day, you analyse what went well and what didn’t go well. The bowlers executed the plans really well. The lower order actually fought really well there and showed the top order that you need to fight it out. You need to show character. You need to be brave enough, which I thought we weren’t. We wanted to take some chances, we didn’t take chances with the bat.”
What did Rahul Dravid say?
“I haven’t seen a better exhibition of sweeping and reverse sweeping than Ollie Pope ever in these conditions against that quality of bowling. Having said that, for us now, it’s important that we respond. We need to come up with some plans and some strategies and see how we can maybe make him play those shots from probably even more difficult lengths and be even more disciplined and even more meticulous with our execution. I thought a little bit our execution went off. Not by much.”
