Give Fletcher time and space to produce results: Dravid
Duncan Fletcher has not had the best of times since taking over as India cricket coach but veteran batsman Rahul Dravid says he should not be written off just yet as the Zimbabwean needs “more time and space” to produce results.
Keeping in mind his wealth of experience and exploits with the England team, which includes the famous Ashes series win over Australia in 2005, Fletcher was appointed as Gary Kristen’s successor after India’s World Cup triumph.
The 63-year-old, however, had a forgettable experience in his first major outing with the Indian team in England, where the visitors, approaching the series as world’s numero uno Test side, were whitewashed in all formats of the game.
But Dravid backed Fletcher to turn things around for Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men, provided he is given more time.
“Look at his (Fletcher’s) achievement with the England team. He comes in with a lot of experience behind him. He has vast knowledge to offer (to India),” Dravid told PTI in an interview.
“It’s too premature to judge him. We need to give more time and space to him to produce results,” he said.
At 38, Dravid is still going strong and was India’s star performer with the bat in England. He, however, was disappointed with the outcome of the series but felt the hosts were by far the better side and deserved to be praised highly for their achievement.
“Obviously, England is a very good team at present. They played some very good cricket and you need to give them credit. They outplayed us in all departments of the game. They showed better skills during that series,” he said.
“But that’s not an excuse. We didn’t play well enough. Sometimes there is no harm losing to a team that is better than you as long as you learn from the mistakes,” Dravid said.
He also did not buy the theory that fatigue had a role to play in India’s poor performance in England.
“Playing a lot of cricket is part and parcel of the game. That’s the way FTP is made and the tours are structured. You just get to learn with it and get on with it,” the right-hander said on the sidelines of the launch of SG’s Maxxport, a sportswear brand here.
Dravid, however, was hopeful of a reversal of fortunes for India in the ODI series against England, termed as a revenge series, starting today at Hyderabad.
“The Indian team (against England) is quite young because of lot of injuries but I hope we will be able to perform well. But it won’t be easy because England are a very good team at the moment. They are playing very good cricket and they are well prepared. So it will be a challenge,” he observed.
Newspaper: The Hindu, 15th Oct