Dravid says it is important that players adapt to different positions as India look ahead to T20 World Cup
KOLKATA: Flexibility will hold the key as India look ahead to the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year. Batting positions will be determined by situations and not set ideas.
As Rahul Dravid said, this format requires taking risks. The coach indicated India will continue with experiments, allowing players to get familiar with this flexibility. And of course, it also helps in building up a second line.
"We need to have a certain amount of flexibility in T20s and that has been communicated to the players," Dravid said.
"You cannot be predictable in T20 cricket. You need to have the left-right combinations sometimes. We have told the players that they may be moved around and they have responded well. Certainly in the middle-order, we want to improve. Especially batting first, we need to have a good total and sometime s you need to have that flexibility when you want to take down a particular bowler. You need to have the right people batting in a really short game," Dravid said.
Venkatesh Iyer is one player who has adapted to Dravid's idea of flexibility quite comfortably. More used to opening the batting, he has been called upon to bat at No. 6. And he has delivered quite well, Sunday's 19-ball 35 being an example.
"He (Iyer) has had a very good series," Dravid said. "We had given him clarity about what we want. He plays a slightly different role for his franchise in Kolkata, but we told him what we expected from him. There was no place in the top three, so we challenged him by giving him a different position and he has been improving. His bowling is coming along quite well too," Dravid reckoned.
Dravid would want a closer look at a number of players before the World Cup, but doesn't want to "cast his net too wide". He is more inclined to giving a few players more game time. "By the time we get to the World Cup, we want to have youngsters who have played in 10 to 15 games," he stressed.
