Rahul Dravid was impressed with team India's performance in the bi-lateral series against Australia but there is one factor that is worrying him ahead of the World Cup that is set to commence on October 5.
The Men in Blue secured a 2-1 series victory over Australia in the recently concluded three-match ODI series. Despite losing the final match, the series showcased several positive performances from Indian players.
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Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav regained their form, which is crucial for India's preparations ahead of the upcoming World Cup. While, KL Rahul demonstrated his prowess both in the Asia Cup and against Australia, underlining his consistency and batting prowess.
What is troubling Rahul Dravid?
However, the dew factor is bothering Dravid. As the matches will be played in October until late November, dew will play a significant role and that's what is troubling the Indian coach.
“It’s a big country, India, and there are many venues. It’s hard to say that it’s going to be the same everywhere," Dravid said after the third ODI against Australia.
"I think each venue will be different, each day will be different. It’s really one of the hardest things to predict with the dew. I’ve played in games where we come to practice the day before the game and the ground is soaked. On the day of the game, sometimes there’s no dew - people say when the clouds come in, there’s less dew."
“I am actually not an expert and sometimes we get it wrong. But certainly, as the tournament goes on, in some venues it will be a factor and in some venues, it may not. It’s going to make it all the more interesting because it’s going to be hard to predict,” the 50-year-old added.
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Rahul Dravid impressed with India's intensity ahead of the World Cup
Several players like Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul got some much-needed game time during the bilateral series against Australia and their individual performances have relieved Dravid.
“It’s been great that Jassi [Bumrah] has been able to play a couple of games, bowl his quota of 10 overs. [Mohammed] Siraj suffering from a little bit of a bug but he’s got back and has been able to bowl today [Wednesday]. It was really nice to see the way [Ravichandran] Ashwin bowled in the first two games.
“KL as well, he’s coming up after almost six-seven months. Shreyas as well, a couple of really good knocks in the last two games. A lot of tick marks from that perspective. Hopefully, we can keep this momentum going into the World Cup,” the coach added.
India will be playing two warm-up games before the World Cup against England and Netherlands respectively. However, Dravid feels that the intensity will not be the same as that of the Australia series.
“For people like Jassi [Jasprit Bumrah], Shreyas, KL, Ashwin as well, for all these guys, game time was really important. The fact that they have been able to get that against a really good, competitive side, we are much better off for it.
"In the warm-up games, people play 15 versus 15. It’s tough to sometimes get that level of intensity in those games. In these three games, in some hot conditions, there’s been a lot of intensity as well,” Dravid stated.
Who is favourite to win the Cricket World Cup 2023?
The Dafabet odds more or less agree with Pathan. However, the betting odds indicate that Pakistan could be the fourth semi-finalist instead of South Africa.
| Teams | Betting odds |
| India | 3.25 |
| England | 4.50 |
| Australia | 5.00 |
| Pakistan | 8.00 |
| New Zealand | 9.00 |
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