Team India's smooth transition is a tribute to domestic system: Dravid
The seamless transition of Indian cricket is a tribute to the robust domestic system and the team environment, Indian head coach Rahul Dravid has said.
Dravid is now overseeing the transition phase as a head coach, something he was part of when he along with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly passed the baton to MS Dhoni.
Shubman Gill has taken the No 3 role occupied by Cheteshwar Pujara after the departure of Dravid, while 20-year-old lefthander Yashasvi Jaiswal made the opening slot his own with a mature 171 on debut, in the first Test against the West Indies.
Their innings and 141 run win also marked two time runners-up India's start to the fresh World Test Championship cycle of 2023-27.
"It's a tribute to the domestic system," Dravid said in the media interaction on the eve of the second and final Test of the series in Trinidad.
"It's a tribute to the environment around the team that a lot of young players are able to come in and perform straightaway.
"A lot of credit should go to the domestic system for producing these kind of players, especially in the batting department, and also the relaxed environment the team here has been able to create to allow young players to come and express themselves."
"So it's nice from our perspective as a coach to see young players come in, perform straightaway and do really well, whether it's Yashasvi in the last game or the way Shubman has grown over the last six-eight months or seeing the way Ishan (Kishan) came in and kept in the last game on a difficult wicket, he did a really good job."
"So there's been a lot of young players, we've seen even in one days and T20s, who've come through and done really well. So yeah, credit to our domestic system, NCA and a lot of other people who can make that possible for us."
Dravid also had a word of caution to the youngsters and said they would have to face stronger challenges ahead.
"I know that people like Jaiswal and Gill will be faced with other tougher challenges and more challenges as they go on and they play more cricket. You know, teams will start getting to know them better," Dravid said.
"I think even in this Test, we'll see the West Indies will probably come up with tactics and strategies. Having seen Jaiswal in the last Test match, they'll respond to that and that'll be the challenge for Jaiswal as well as to respond to the tactics and the strategies that the West Indies are going to come up with in this game."
"Today, I think as a young player, once you get known and once you start performing well, teams start planning and preparing for you better, so you need to respond to that as well."
"So looking forward to that, but really excited to see his talent and to see how well he performed and just the way he adapted I was really pleased to see that he was willing to play an attacking game when required but also knuckle down and be defensive and work hard for his runs when it's required, and as a coach nothing pleases you more than that," he added.
