Young players need to decide the direction of the Indian team: Rahul Dravid – Cricket News Update
Legendary Indian batsman, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/R-Dravid-c2229, has encouraged the Men In Blue to consider the future of the team, and advised younger players to take a more active role in deciding the direction the team will take in the future.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo in his first interview post-retirement, Dravid stressed the importance of determining "how we want to see the Indian team, not today but ten years ahead.”
The Indian team, he said, has “got to move on from being the team that was led by my generation.” The 39-year-old made his debut in 1996, and went on to become one of the most prolific batsmen in the Indian team. He retired earlier this month, after a career
spanning 164 Tests (scoring 13288 runs) and 344 ODIs (with 10889 runs).
Highlighting the changes that had seeped into the game recently, such as the T20 format, and the establishment of franchises such as the Indian and Bangladesh Premier Leagues, the veteran batsman advocated a hands-on approach to tackling the new issues and
challenges.
“It's not something we need to be fearful of but something we need to recognise: that Twenty20 has an impact. We have to decide how we deal with it.”
Being careful to stress the necessity of senior players, Dravid claimed that while their experience was valuable, the youngsters needed to step up to take the team in the right direction – for example, in determining the impact the IPL could have on the
amount of Test cricket played by the team, in which Dravid expressed the hope that the younger players would favour Test cricket.
“I'm not saying the seniors need to be replaced, they will be the sounding boards,” he claimed. “But the direction and the culture of the team over the next ten years will have to be decided by this capable group of young players.”
Among the more prominent younger players in the squad is the 23-year-old http://www.senore.com/Cricket/V-Kohli-c2737, who was recently appointed vice-captain after scoring an unbeaten 133 against Sri Lanka at Hobart during the Commonwealth Bank series Down Under last month. He went on
to prove his worth in the recently wrapped-up Asia Cup, contributing scores such as 108, 66, and 183 against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 respectively.
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