India need better preparation for England tours, says Rahul Dravid

Former India captain and current coach of India A and Under-19 teams Rahul Dravid suggested that the senior team needs to prepare themselves better for an England tour. India recently lost the 5-match Test series against England 1-4, despite coming close to victory on several occasions. However some of the positives for India were Virat Kohli’s dominance with the bat – the skipper amassed 593 runs and earned himself a man of the series award – as well the overall performance from the fast bowlers.

However, Rahul Dravid felt that India needed to put in a lot more thought and effort into preparing for an England tour. Dravid was the last captain who led India to a Test series victory against England in England.

“The conditions in England were not easy for batting. I think batsmen of both teams struggled. If you take out Virat Kohli from the equation, it was not an easy series for the batsmen. I have played in England quite a bit, the conditions can be tough, but it is rare to find five Test matches which had conditions as tough as the one they found,” Dravid said on Friday.

“We have to be better prepared for these conditions. We need to try and replicate conditions as best as we possibly can. It was tough out there. Let’s face it,” he added.

Is India the best travelling team in the world?

Meanwhile, head coach of the Indian Cricket Team Ravi Shastri termed his side as the ‘best travelling team in the world’ in the last 15-20 years. However, Rahul Dravid chose not to comment on Shastri’s claim. He said, “I think the whole thing was a little bit blown out of proportion. I am not really interested in commenting on what Mr Shastri feels or he doesn’t feel. For me the main thing is what have we learnt from this series. What are the lessons that we need to take forward next time we go there? It doesn’t matter whether we are the best or not. These are irrelevant things for me.”

Dravid went on to add, “Tours like England happens once in three or four years and players who have been part of the series and even the coaching staff, they will be disappointed after losing because you never know what happens. We really had a good team this time, the bowling was exceptional, but it still did not work out.”

India are currently defending their Asia Cup title in the UAE, and will then take on the Windies at home with a 2-match Test series that begins on October 4.

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