Playing practice matches is something India should look into, says Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid has stated that he expects cricket boards across the world to make good quality oppositions available for visiting teams to play practice matches prior to any Test series. He mentioned that such practice matches are a crucial part of preparations and make Test matches exciting.
The Indian Test side had cancelled their only practice match before the South Africa Test series. Ahead of the England tour, the practice match against Essex was also reduced to three days instead of four. Coincidentally, India went down 2-0 in the first two Test matches against both South Africa and England in their respective series before winning the third Test.
During the South Africa Series, Coach Ravi Shastri has admitted that 10 more days of practice could've been much resourceful for the team and they would have performed better. After the recent 4-1 Test series loss to England, Shastri stated that practice matches are a crucial part of the preparations and they have already requested for two practice matches prior to their upcoming Test series against Australia.Â
Drawing conclusions from the following performances of team India in their respective Test matches, Rahul Dravid has stated that all the cricket boards across the world should make quality arrangements for practice matches for visiting teams. He also stated that such matches help in the good preparation of the team as it helps the team get accustomed to the conditions pertaining in that venue.
“It's like anything else, it has to be reciprocal, you have to work with other boards because nobody wants to see one-sided overseas results; you want to see close, exciting Test matches. I benefitted a lot from it in my career, playing solid first-class matches when I first started. When we went on tours it was a done thing that you practice and play first-class cricket. It seems to happen less and less nowadays, and not only India,
"I remember Trevor Bayliss talking about it the last time the Ashes was held, I think they had a similar problem in Australia. It's] because of the kind of schedules and the reluctance of first-class teams now to put their best players out for visiting teams, as probably was in the past, because first-class teams are playing a lot more cricket,” he quoted.Â
India will play its next Test series against the Australians on their home turf by the end of the year. Just like team India had a hard time facing the swing ball in England, they shall now have to go through the extra bounce at Australia. Dravid believes that India should not take any chance henceforth and play practice matches over there in order to get a proper warm up prior to the actual Test.
"Ideally they should be playing that [practice matches]. Definitely something India needs to look into, but even other teams need to co-operate. For example, if Australia can guarantee India two good practice matches, we should be able to do the same for them when they come here,” Dravid concluded.
