Rahul Dravid hinted that there is no cause for alarm over the future of One Day Internationals given the response to the recent Champions Trophy in South Africa.
“I thought the response was good for the Champions Trophy and in terms of the nature of matches, there were upsets and a few close contests. Basically if you have a good contest, people will stay and watch a 50-over game,” Dravid said.
On India’s and his performance, Dravid said: “It was disappointing that we failed to get through but that’s the nature of the tournament, we lost one game and we were out. Personally I am happy with the way I played in the Champions Trophy and the way I have prepared for the Champions League.”
Dravid reiterated his earlier stance of “there is always value for a good cricketing shot be it any format of the game.”
Elaborating on the approach to Twenty20 cricket, Dravid said: “When I started out there was only Tests and 50-overs cricket and I consciously prepared for it but now for a 20-year old youngster, he is aware about T20 and let’s admit, T20 does have a huge role to play in the next decade or so and it is better if a youngster gets used to the skill-sets.
“It’s all about a mindset, in T20 you have to do things faster and evolve quicker but the basics and technique are the same,” he added.
The former Indian captain was also optimistic about the prospects of Royal Challengers Bangalore in the forthcoming Champions League.
“We are bonding well as a team. I just caught up with the other players after I got back from South Africa and it felt the same as it did while we played the IPL. We hope to do well and we do have a good team,” Dravid said.
