Indian skipper Rahul Dravid said he would like to see the middle order scoring runs in the second Test beginning here on Friday.
“We would like more runs from the middle order, the positives we took from the last game was our bowling. Batting is an area we know we can improve on. Hopefully, in the next couple of matches, we’d be able to do better than we did at Lord’s. We need to do that,” Dravid said here on Thursday.
“We were in this sort of situation even in the previous tour. We lost at Lord’s, we didn't start particularly well here at Nottingham, but we turned it around in the second innings and then went on to have a very good summer with the bat. It took us a bit of time to start off and it’s been no different this time too. But there’s a lot of quality there, it’s now a question of producing that quality,” he added.
Dravid replied strongly to a question whether the reputation of the famous four — Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly — was at stake after a below par performance in the first Test.
“Reputation is not given by someone, why don’t the youngsters get such a reputation? Because, he doesn’t have the performances; reputation is made by performance. Definitely, in the last match, the performance was not great. But irrespective of reputation, you have to perform well. Every series starts 0-0 and your reputation depends on how you do it. If you play for India, whether you play well or not, the same pressure remains. It’s your responsibility. Everyone has the pressure. Who has more or less, it’s difficult to qualify,” he said.
“When you're playing international cricket, you're being judged all the time. If you don't perform well and the results are not there, we have to hear this. The only way to answer this criticism is to perform,” he said.
Ganguly better
On the fitness of Sourav Ganguly, Dravid said, “Sourav has been progressing well, obviously we did not have the opportunity to have any outdoor nets today or yesterday… He’s going to take part in the full practice session later today and we’ll have a clearer picture… He is feeling much better, so we’ve picked him in the 12. It’s going to be the same eleven as the last match and Yuvraj Singh is in the 12.”
On the exchange of words between Dinesh Kaarthick and England wicket-keeper Matt Prior, Dravid said, "There has got to be a bit of that in international cricket, especially in close games like the first Test. They know they've got to give everything to win or save a match on the last day. Tempers can get frayed, but the relations between the two teams have been good, off the field as well. I was happy with the spirit the first match was played in.”