Rahul Dravid played 43 IPL matches for Royal Challengers Bangalore, 46 for Rajasthan Royals and coached and mentored the latter for two years. This season he’s in the Delhi Daredevils dugout, offering the wealth of his experience to a group of exciting Indian players and England’s Sam Billings and West Indian Carlos Brathwaite, among others.
He’s impressed by the power-hitting he has seen so far this edition. “It seems to me almost no total is safe,” Dravid told The Hindu on Tuesday. “People are getting better and better at ball-striking. Just the way people have chased down targets, especially the composure in chases, probably for me has been the standout in this year’s IPL so far.’’
Excerpts:
You focused on thousands of deliveries in Test match and ODI cricket for India ...how different is it to remain focussed on 120 balls...does it make you nervous as a coach?
I know it’s only a 240-ball game, but every ball matters. Margins of victories are sometimes so small. We have already played games like that...I am definitely (nervous)...you cannot control it. When you are sitting outside you are a lot more nervous than when you are actually playing. You are thinking of too many things as well. We played a couple of close games that we won. We lost a match by one run. It’s a 240-ball game, but it’s an intense 240-ball game. It’s like living each one of them. Sometimes you can get quite nervous.
No team has been able to crack the Twenty20 code in so far as to remain unbeaten?
I think all the teams are good. One of things you have got to realise is that every team has really got some good match winners who can win games on a particular day. Every team is pretty well planned and have good strategies. So it’s always a contest, there are no real easy games to speak in the IPL. Just because a team may be lower on the points table, it doesn’t mean that you can walk in and expect to win a game. If you are not playing well, you can be beaten. That’s reflected in the tight positions on the points table.
The emphasis is very much on the first six over power-play and also in the last 30 balls or so?
It’s a question of how a team is balanced out in terms of the strengths and weaknesses. Obviously if teams have players of the quality of (Brendon) McCullum and (Dwayne) Smith and they are going to go hard at the top and maximise the top six overs. There are other teams which maybe strong lower down the batting order and maximise the last 30 or 40 balls. I don’t think there is a set formula ..there are different ways to play. It’s a matter of how you stack your team up I think it’s critical also to recognise the players in form.
Sam Billings made an observation that he (at the non striker’s end) learnt a lot about playing spin seeing Karun Nair at the striker’s end?
I think any conversation and communication works both ways. Just as we encourage Sam to have conversations with our guys, we also encourage young players to watch how Sam plays and find out how creative he is and also pick his brains about how to bat at the death and in different situations. So it’s a two way street and it’s up to the players to make the most of it. It’s interesting to watch the way Sam has gone about this business. He has taken to the challenge of the IPL and the environment and learning in it.
This learning aspect is not particular to any one franchise team though?
This applies to the whole IPL; it’s a great learning environment. Everywhere in the IPL you see this conversations happening. People are sharing knowledge about tactics and strategies. Players must be discussing tactics in the South African dressing room, in Australia or in New Zealand. I am sure they bring all this to the IPL environment as well. Everyone wants their team to win. So they bring all of that information and at the end of the day, it’s all about how you execute it. Sometimes one can get caught up a lot in theory and tactics. You may have the best theory and tactics, but if the players are not able to execute it...it will not be easy.
You talked about knowledge...how much has it advanced since the time you played?
The game has become a lot more professional. Players have a lot more access to information and professional help, especially in areas of physiotherapy, nutrition and diet, access to facilities and infrastructure ...it has gone up by many notches. There is a lot more at stake. The basics and techniques of the game have not changed for over 120 years, and they are not about to change in ten years. Yes, people are playing newer shots; they have been more creative...so that’s great to see. Players have been practising differently. You have to coach differently as well because the Twenty20 demands it. But you cannot get away from the basics of the game.
Some of the shots played have been breathtaking?
The players are redefining what is possible on a cricket field, the execution of some of the shots that are played. The scoops....they are able to hit the ball in angles that players of the past did not practice. The nature of the Twenty20 game sometimes forces you to be creative and innovative, with both bat and ball. It’s exciting to see the variations brought about by the bowlers. It’s a good time to be a young cricketer, because the opportunities are there in all three formats of the game. It’s a question of how you balance it out.
But good players can succeed in all formats. Look at Virat Kohli, Steven Smith, Kane Williamson and Joe Root...what they did in the World Twenty20. Yes, we see a lot of power from some of the West Indian players and some big hitting. But we also some good classical batting coming to the fore. And also people who spun the ball, swung the ball and bowled with pace were successful as well.
I don’t think team can be made of 11 Virat Kohli’s, but definitely you need the balance of certain players like Kohli and some power hitters at the bottom. It’s a question of getting the right mix. One can find a role for himself in a Twenty20 game, even if you don’t have raw strength and power. It helps if you have strength and power, but you can find other ways to succeed as well.
Do you think the batsmen have outwitted the bowlers after playing so many years of Twenty 20?
The batsmen have the advantage because they have 20 overs and ten wickets. The fact of the matter is that you have long batting line ups and hence batsmen are able to take much more risks in this format of the game. It’s not an easy game from a bowler’s perspective in a sense because the very nature of the game gives the batsmen to play with freedom that they won’t associate even with 50 overs cricket.
I am also seeing bowlers responding tosituarions. When you make the contest for the bowlers, on good wickets, big boundaries, one would them pull back the scores. The bowlers suffer when you play on grounds with small boundaries and where the batsmen does not even hit the ball cleanly and it still goes out of the ground. You give the bowlers big boundaries...75 or 80 yard boundaries and they will respond very well. A score of 150 or thereabout has been defended in this tournament. We have also seen they converse of 180 or 190 being chased down.
It all comes down to giving the bowlers a fair chance, wherein a batsman hits the ball cleanly, he should get a six, but if he mishits it, he should actually be out because the bowler has deceived him. But we are not able to increase the size of the boundaries. I think in the newer stadiums and grounds, the bowlers are holding their sway. I think on smaller grounds we have to make the contest between the bat and ball even. The curators need to recognise that they have to give something to the bowlers on smaller grounds, through pace or spin. On big grounds one can maybe play on flatter wickets.
Some openers have done exceptionally well this season? But someone like Virat Kohli tops the batting honours list 433 runs and his team is in the lower half?
The fact is that a team’s No. 1, 2,3 have the opportunity to play more number of balls. It’s just logical that your 1,2 and three have a good tournament.
Your team has three Indian players in the top four...but Shreyas Iyer is still not in good nick?
One of the exciting things for us is that we have a lot of young players; it’s a developing team. They will only get better if they play more and are put in these kind (tough) of situations. The real thing is to try and help them to develop and grow. Quinton (de Kock) batted well in a couple of games; he is a world class player. The nature of Twenty20 is that you are going to take chances and take some risks. The fact is that it’s going to come off some times. And it comes of 50 to 60 per cent of it, then I think you have done really well. May we have not had the starts so far as well as we would have liked. But I think it’s still early days. I am sure we will hopefully correct that as the tournament goes along.
Karun Nair has shown the ambition to do progress..his two half centuries were splendid efforts?
I think he’s playing really well; he has a very good first class record. He’s in the India `A’ team and also the Test team. Batting in the middle you don’t always get the opportunities; he bats at 3,4 and 5. It’s always easy to get a number of balls to make a huge impact in Twenty20 and people have to see it that way. In this tournament he (Nair) has presented himself in such a way (make an impact) because we have not started off well and he has made them count. There might be other days when he may not get opportunities to be able to get 50s and 60s.
Iyer has not had a good tournament, but he has had two great Ranji Trophy seasons. He is a very good player. Look... Karun, Sanju (Samson), these are really young and exciting players. Unfortunately we have not been able to give Mayank (Agarwal) many opportunities; he played so well for India `A’. There is young Rishabh Pant as well. So we have these five young batsmen on whom we believed in. I only expect good things from them going ahead. It’s really upto them to not only play well in the IPL , but also in the Ranji Trophy and start pushing the guys in the national team.
The spinners have taken 90 wickets so far?
The spinners have a lot of role to play in Twenty20. I think the teams go in with minimum of two spinners, if not three...some have the option of bowling four spinners. We need to give them some help on the smaller grounds.
