Rahul Dravid Plays Down Pitch Talk Ahead Of Ahmedabad Test

Dravid said that challenging wickets were a “part of the game” with the talk around pitches raging after the Indore pitch for the third Test received a “poor” rating from ICC.

The home team’s head coach also played down talks around India’s batters struggling, maintaining that expectations have to be “realistic”.

“We have played on some challenging wickets when we go overseas also,” Dravid stated.

” [We] played in South Africa recently where spinners were completely taken out of the game. And everyone wants to produce wickets where eventually one wants results.

“You will probably prepare wickets where the ball holds a bit more sway over the bat and that’s necessary and part of the game.”

India’s lower middle order has contributed to a large chunk of the runs in the series with the top-order misfiring, but Dravid appeared unperturbed by the same.

“You need to be realistic as to what is a good performance on these challenging wickets,” Dravid said.

“So, you need to be realistic what the benchmarks are now, what standards are on these kinds of surfaces just one good performance can change the game.

“It might not be a double hundred but a 50-60 or 70 somewhere, but could actually be a very, very good score in some conditions.”

India are 2-1 ahead in the series, but Australia’s stunning win in Indore in the previous Test saw them qualify for the ICC World Test Championship final and also proved that they could not only test, but also beat, India in these conditions.

The fourth Test begins on Thursday in Ahmedabad with India aiming to book their place in the WTC final with a win.