ICC World Cup 2019 | Wicket-taking bowlers in middle overs will benefit India in World Cup, says Rahul Dravid
Getty
Rahul Dravid has stated that the presence of wicket-taking bowlers in the World Cup in the United Kingdom will benefit the Indian team. India have bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal who are a part of the squad for the quadrennial event starting May 30.
India pacer Jasprit Bumrah is the number one ranked ODI bowler at present and is a part of Indiaās squad for the upcoming World Cup in England and Wales. The GujaratĀ pacer has picked up 85 wickets in 49 matches at a strike rate and average of 29.4 and 22.15 respectively. Indiaās spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have also formed a formidable combination, the former has 87 wickets in 44 matches at a strike rate of 26.4 while the latter has 72 wickets in 41 matches at a strike rate of 30.1. India U-19 and India A coach Rahul Dravid felt that the presence of wicket taking bowlers willĀ help India have an advantage over other teams.
āHaving experienced some of the conditions in England last year with the A tour, I believe it would be a high scoring World Cup. And in a high scoring WC, having bowlers who can take wickets in the middle will be very important. I think India is lucky in that regard,āĀ Dravid said at an awards function, reported Star Sports.
āPeople like Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal... (We have) got bowlers who can take wickets. Teams that are taking wickets through those middle-overs in those high scoring games have a better better chance of restricting the opposition. Bowling is going to play a very big role in this World Cup and the team that bowls best, probably will be closer to winning it."
India have had historic wins in the past year as they emerged victorious for the first time ever in South Africa, followed by series wins in Australia and New Zealand as well. Dravid feels that the sideās consistency will put them in good stead.Ā
āI think we have had a couple of really good years leading to the World Cup. For the right reasons, we are number two in the World and that actually means that we have consistently produced some successful results in the last two and half years. We can be hopeful,ā the former skipper expressed.
āI think itās going to be a tough World Cup. Every team comes well prepared and wants to compete. Everyone will be putting their best foot forward.Ā India is definitely one of the favourites into the tournament and hopefully we make the semi-final and from there on there are four very good teams.ā
Virat Kohli now has a mind-boggling 41 hundreds in 219 innings, only eight less than Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar. He is ranked number one and is regarded as arguably the finest ODI batsman. Dravid praised the Indian skipper by saying that Kohli is setting bars and standards that were once tought impossible to achieve.
āVirat, you know he just keeps improving, keeps getting better. He is setting bars and standards that we thought would never be achieved. Sachin (Tendulkar) scored 49-50 hundreds in one-day cricket. People thought that this would be impossible or at least take a lot of time to achieve. Virat is ten away from it or close to it,ā said the 46-year-old.
āIt is not that he hasnāt had bad tours - he had disappointing tour of England in 2014, he wasnāt as successful in Australia first time around. One of the things about Virat is that even if he has a bad tour, he goes back as a better player the next time. He sort of reinvents his game to a point where he is constantly improving.ā
MS Dhoni is regarded as one of the best brains in cricket as well as the best finisher. His ability to remain calm and composed in crunch situations makes him a great player and Dravid also pointed out the same thing for the former skipper.
"The beauty about MS is how he plays these big tournaments and these big matches. I tell a lot of under-19 boys, he is able to find a way to play it like it doesnāt mean a lot, obviously it means a lot. He is able to see a bigger picture in it and say ā Iām not defined by this particular game. It is a hard thing to do,ā he signed off.
