Dravid demands more

25 July 2007

Rahul Dravid falls leg before to Chris Tremlett on the last day of the first Test © Getty Images

Rahul Dravid has called on India’s decorated batsmen to add to their stunning collection of hundreds in a bid to win the second npower Test against England.

India captain Dravid failed twice in the dramatic drawn series opener at Lord’s while Sachin Tendulkar, Test cricket’s most prolific century-maker, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman were dismissed when well set.

Between them that quartet boast an incredible 84 hundreds at Test level.

A failure to contribute three-figure scores undermined the team’s efforts in last winter’s 2-1 defeat in South Africa and is causing irritation at a time when India at last have a bowling unit capable of dismissing opponents twice when operating on foreign soil.

“We would like to score more runs than we have, there is no doubt about it,” conceded Dravid, looking ahead to the second match at Trent Bridge, which starts on Friday.

“When we’ve put big runs on the board it has made a huge difference to our team.

“Yes, it is something we need to correct and something we need to keep working on; I am sure the guys are aware of it.

“Hopefully lessons have been learned here that can be taken into the next game.

“The guys are looking good. We have got some starts; we just haven’t been able to carry on and that is the key in an innings.

“You need one batsman to go on and score a hundred. Kevin Pietersen was the difference for England - his hundred set the game up for them beautifully.”

The likes of Dinesh Karthik among the lesser-known players impressed Dravid

While the hub of the batting underperformed against England’s fledgling bowling attack, less celebrated batsmen Wasim Jaffer and Dinesh Karthik hit half-centuries in addition to MS Dhoni’s unbeaten 76 and left-armer RP Singh got his name on the Lord’s honours board with a five-wicket haul.

“Some of the players who weren’t as well known before this tour did well,” said Dravid.

“It is nice that they are getting runs and wickets and making a name for themselves. If some of the guys who have performances behind them can recreate some of that we should be very competitive.”

Having lost Tests in Jamaica and Durban in the past five years when they narrowly failed to extend the contest into looming spells of rain and bad light, India were clinging on at 282 for nine - 98 short of their improbable target - at Lord's when umpires Simon Taufel and Steve Bucknor offered the refuge of the dressing room at 3.35pm.

Minutes later the rain arrived and, despite brief hope of a resumption, this time the elements were on their side.

“You never get the same feeling as winning a Test match, no matter how hard you might have fought for a draw,” reflected Dravid.

“There was a sense of relief that we had fought our way out of a difficult situation, helped by the weather.

“Of course, we had a bit of luck but it was nice to get away with one rather than lose one of these.”