Rahul Dravid feels tie against England is a "priceless experience" for U-19s
Rahul Dravid said the Indian colts gained a "priceless experience" after the final game of the five-match youth ODI series against England ended in a tie in Mumbai. The coach also reserved special praise for batsmen Shubman Gill and Prithvi Shaw for displaying resolve and the hunger to succeed.
Despite having already secured a series win, India entered the last game with the clear intention to ensure that the scoreline reflected their dominance in the series. However, chasing 227, India found themselves staring at defeat when S Radhakrishnan (65) departed with the scoreboard reading 137-7.
The hosts staged a remarkable fightback and looked to be headed for a win with just one one run needed off the last ball. However, Patterson-White dismissed Ishan Porel as the game ended in a tie.
"It is fantastic. It is a priceless experience. I think these are the kind of experiences, if they learn from this, and if they go on from here, it is something that will hold them in good stead. Even the lower order, the way they fought back from 137-7. We had made a lot of changes, a few new guys in as well," Dravid told PTI.
"It was really nice for them to get a game like this, we would have liked to have won but a tie is the next best result in that sense. We will take it and I just think the closeness of the game and the way the lower order batted, it will give them good confidence as well."Â
After getting off to good starts in the first two ODIs Gill had failed to notch up a big score. In the next two matches, however, the 17-year-old scored 138* and 160 to put India in a commanding position in the series and his efforts have not gone unnoticed by the former Indian captain.Â
"I think Shubman was terrific, he had been getting starts in the first two games and we sort of challenged him a little bit to try and see if he could convert it. He is obviously a very good player and it was very good to see him get the two big hundreds, the hunger is what you want to see," Dravid said.Â
"He carried on a little bit from what Himanshu has shown. Himanshu, as well, over the last four-five games has shown the hunger and then we sort of challenged everyone to follow Himanshu's lead and Shubman went on. It is fantastic for all the guys to see that as well and it becomes a sort of benchmark for everyone."
Shaw was also singled out by Dravid for his resolve. After scoring just 21 runs in the first two matches, Shaw scored a brilliant 105 in the fourth match.
"At the Under-19 level, you expect the guys to have a few odd games where you don't do well but he really played well in the last game there and got a really good hundred. He is a very good player," concluded Dravid.