India head coach Rahul Dravid credits England for winning the rescheduled fifth Test by seven wickets at Edgbaston on Tuesday, July 5. On the fifth day, resuming 259/3, England scored the 119 they needed to chase down a record 378 – their highest-successful run chase in Test history.
The main architects of the chase were senior batsmen Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, who shared an unbeaten 142 and 114 not out in a 269-run partnership. This meant England leveled the series 2–2 for the Pataudi Trophy, denied India A chance to win his first Test series in England since 2007.
“I would definitely say that we controlled the game in three days but yesterday (on day four), we didn’t bat well (in the second innings), and with our bowling in the fourth innings, we weren’t able to maintain that. We should give credit to them (England) for the way they played. They (Root and Bairstow) put up a great partnership, we got two-three chances but we couldn’t take advantage of it. But sometimes you The opponent needs to be applauded as they had a really good partnership and both played well,” Dravid said in the post-match press conference.
Read also: ‘Don’t Understand’: Former Captain Praises England Bowlers After Edgbaston’s Return
“Look, I think they played really well. I have to admit that I didn’t get to watch much of the series against New Zealand; we saw parts of it when we were doing our planning and preparation. But they played well, The kind of totals he chased in all those four Test matches has been exceptional.”
“They have some batsmen who are probably in the best form of their lives and playing exceptional cricket. It is not easy to make such a partnership in the fourth innings of a Test match. I think they are playing really good cricket at the moment, salute them, said former India captain Dravid.
When asked whether India’s playing of the series against England after the outbreak of Covid-19 at the visitors’ camp has been shifted from September 2021 to July this year, the fifth and final Test, Dravid remarked, ” I don’t want to make excuses about it. I was not part of the team then. India was on a roll at that time. At that time England was probably in a different position. But he has come here on the back of three consecutive wins against New Zealand. We have had a long gap in Test cricket, but no excuse.
Read also: ‘Our batting was not up to scratch’ – Rahul Dravid highlights India’s mistakes at Edgbaston
“He played well in five days. We had chances, we played well in the first three days. We couldn’t keep it up. That’s why Test cricket is tough. And so Test cricket means you have to be able to keep those performances right for five days. We couldn’t do that and they did better than us and they deserved to win this Test match.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=/NVvcqH9FFME
India is going to play white ball matches against England, West Indies and Australia in addition to the Asia Cup for men’s T20. World Touring New Zealand after the Cup in Australia in October-November, they are not scheduled to play Tests until moving to Bangladesh for a two-match series later this year. Dravid promised that India would rectify their mistakes to do well in the upcoming Test.
“The way cricket is going; You don’t get time to reflect. After two days I will talk about something else but we will look into it. After every match, you learn something and you need to learn something, whether you win or lose. We need to see why we didn’t bat well in the third innings and then didn’t take wickets in the fourth innings, which should have been done. We’ll have to see what we can do.”
“After that, we don’t know where we will be able to play overseas. The next six Test matches are in the subcontinent for this cycle, which we will definitely focus on. We will look at this Test and after every match will be with the coaches and selectors for advice, discussion and review on what we did right, what could have been better. Hopefully next time whenever we go abroad, whatever mistakes have been made, we will definitely try to rectify them,” Dravid said.
Get all the latest updates cricket news, cricket pictures, cricket videos And cricket score Here