Dravid lauds children for performing ‘straightaway’ in India’s transition
A decade later, Dravid has a ringside view of one other Indian group in transition, this time as a head coach and somebody who has spent appreciable time within the system, particularly the age-group and pathway programmes.
“It’s a tribute to the domestic system,” Dravid stated on the eve of the second Test in Port-of-Spain starting on Thursday. “It’s a tribute to the environment around the team that a lot of young players are able to come in and perform straightaway. A lot of credit should go to the domestic system for producing these kind of players, especially in the batting department, and also the relaxed environment the team here has been able to create to allow young players to come and express themselves.
“So it is good from our perspective as a coach to see younger gamers are available in, carry out straightaway and do rather well, whether or not it is Yashasvi within the final recreation or the way in which Shubman has grown over the past six-eight months or seeing the way in which Ishan [Kishan] got here in and stored within the final recreation on a tough wicket, he did a extremely good job. So there’s been a whole lot of younger gamers, we have seen even in a single days and T20s, who’ve come by means of and finished rather well. So yeah, credit score to our home system, NCA and a whole lot of different individuals who could make that potential for us.”
In lauding the youngsters, Dravid also struck a note of caution, hoping they will counter tougher challenges to mark the next level of learning and growth.
“I do know folks like Jaiswal and Gill might be confronted with harder challenges as they go on and play extra cricket,” Dravid said. “Teams will get to know them higher. Even on this Test, we’ll see the West Indies in all probability give you ways and techniques having seen Jaiswal within the final Test match, and so they’ll reply to that.
“The challenge for Jaiswal is to respond to the tactics and strategies West Indies are going to come up with in this game. Because today, as a young player, once you get known, once you start performing well, teams start planning and preparing for you better so you need to respond to that as well. So, looking forward to that but really excited to see his talent, how well he performed. Just the way he adapted, was really pleased to see that he was willing to play an attacking game when required but also knuckle down and be defensive, and work hard for his runs when required. As a coach, nothing pleases you more than that.”