DHAKA: Rahul Dravid made public his opinion on why V.V.S. Laxman continues to be left out of the Indian Test eleven.

"Laxman has been picked as a middle order batsman. On this tour, especially in these conditions, we are very keen on playing five bowlers. So he is fighting for one of the three slots in the middle order. Myself, Sachin (Tendulkar), Sourav (Ganguly), Yuvraj (Singh) and Laxman are fighting for three spots. On some tours it might be four slots. So it is unfortunate that both Yuvraj and Laxman had to miss out. It is not an easy decision for me, it never has been and never will be."

On the openers, Dravid said: "The selectors were quite clear that irrespective of what happened in the first game, we would not be changing our opening combination. In a two-Test series, you would not be changing your openers after the first game itself.

"Wasim (Jaffer) got a hundred in the last Test at Cape Town. But the feeling was we were not going to change him if he failed for one game. It was agreed that Dinesh Karthik was going to open for a couple of games to prove his credentials as an opener."

It's the runs that count

Dravid stood by Karthik's elevation. "I try to keep saying this and I don't know in what better way to say this. Dinesh is a wicketkeeper, but he is playing as an opening batsman and he has been scoring runs. It does not matter whether you are a specialist, regular, official, unofficial, non-regular. At the end of the day it is the runs that matter."

Dravid was not finished with the openers' issue. "In my 10 years of playing for India, the guy who has been the most consistent and who has got runs for us as opener over the 10 years with some consistency has been a middle order batsman (Virender Sehwag), who converted to an opener."

What about his own role as an opener? "We have gone down that road and we have tried that stuff in Pakistan but we have seen that sometimes that doesn't really work for the team. Having me in the number three position seems to work a lot better for the team," he said.

The press conference had warmed up by now. So had Dravid. Was he missing a tear-away fast bowler? "Yes, anyone would like to have someone bowling at 150 or 155kmph. I am happy with what I have. There is no point now saying we will miss this or we will miss that.''

Reflecting on the last Test, Dravid was candid. "We could have bowled a bit better, but it is not about bowling fast, but also about being fit and being strong right through the day. The critical stages for a fast bowler come after tea when they bowl 15-16 overs.

"They have to come and take those last few wickets in that last burst of four or five overs. That's the area we are concentrating on," he said.

On the bowling combination, Dravid noted, "We are keeping the option open of either playing the third spinner or third quick, which will give Ishant (Sharma) a game. We are keeping that option open till we have one last look at the pitch in the morning. Anil (Kumble) is shaping up well. He bowled well at practice today. That is a very good sign," he added.

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