“No team can win with one player performing. One player can have a significant impact on a game, but you need 20 wickets. The bowlers make a huge impact in winning Test matches. Everyone who is here has earned the reputation through the sheer weight of runs scored, it’s not just been given to them. I think everyone has contributed and I’ve not just seen myself as the one to perform. To answer your question, I don’t feel any additional pressure, I just see myself as part of that batting unit. Just as everyone else’s contribution is important, mine is too,” Dravid said on the eve of the first Test at Lord’s.
“This series is going to be closely contested. I don’t think experience counts for much. Everyone starts on zero and the team that performs during the course of this Test match will win it. Our preparation has been good, the weather has been kind to us, and we’ve had a couple of good games. I think we’re ready for the Test match. It would be nice to win a Test series here in 20 years,” he said.
However, Dravid identified Sachin Tendulkar and V V S Laxman as two players who can turn it around for the team. “Laxman is ready to have a big tour. I'm happy with what I’ve seen at the start, and I think he’ll be a big factor for us,” he said.
Pat for Sachin
“Sachin looked really good in Ireland. He looked good at Chelmsford, and I think you write off Sachin at your own peril. I’m realistic enough to know that it's virtually impossible to play at the same level for 17 years. There are going to be dips in form. As long as I see the joy for the game Sachin still possesses, there’s no reason he can’t have a good series. No one is fireproof, and that includes me. There shouldn’t be any immediate concerns about Sachin’s form,” the Indian captain added.
Dravid also dismissed the theory of the inexperience of the Indian bowling attack. “Sreesanth has got some pace and swings it away, Zaheer has come back and he has the experience in these conditions. He will lead our attack. RP is young and promising, while Ishanth and Bose have shown a lot of potential.”
Dravid had a word of encouragement for the struggling Wasim Jaffer. “Jaffer hasn’t got runs in the lead up games, but in his last three Test matches he has got two hundreds, so he’s a Test match player. He’s working quite hard and can come up with a brilliant knock,” he said.
He said the Indian team management has studiously watched Monty Panesar. “Monty has bowled well, he has impressed us. We have studied some of his tapes, and he has bowled very impressively. As much as it’s going to be a challenge for him, it’s going to be a challenge for us too,” he said.
On the absence of Andrew Flintoff, he said, “A bowling all-rounder of that calibre — looking at it from the balance of the team — will be missed. He allows them to play five bowlers.”