‘Jeez man, VVS used to…” Why watching Axar Patel at No 6 made Rahul Dravid think about VVS Laxman

It’s not everyday that Rahul Dravid shares dressing room conversations or throws his head back and laughs at his own joke at a press conference. But it’s not everyday, Indian team, minus Virat Kohli, wins a crucial home series despite regularly losing key players because of a spate of injuries.

It was a question about India’s depleted squad before the second Test at Vizag that sparked laughs in the media room. This was the time when India, after losing the first Test, were informed that two key players – Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul – were not available for selection and all-rounder Axar Patel got into the playing. The sight of Axar going out to bat made the two 90s cricketers in the dressing room – coach Dravid and his assistant Vikram Rathore – nostalgic.

“When I saw Axar walk in at No.6, I remember looking at Vikram and thinking, ‘Jeez, VVS (Laxman) used to walk out at that position’. With due respect to Axar (laughs), he is a lovely player,” Dravid would say and chuckle away.

This was Dravid explaining that despite injuries they didn’t opt for the safer option of packing his team with batsmen. “That’s the bottomline of what me and Rohit have always spoken about. That’s what wins you Tests…being able to take 20 wickets as quickly as possible. It was the braver option and I am glad we went with that. That’s what paid off,” Dravid said.

WATCH: An overview shot via Google Earth of the scenic Dharamsala stadium

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If #cricket stadiums had a beauty pageant, #Dharamsala would be the popular choice to get the Miss World crown. No wonder 5,000 English fans have travelled to the foothills of the Dhauladhar range for the 5th #INDvsENG Test. By Sandeep Dwivedihttps://t.co/zVCyW9rMzw pic.twitter.com/MQi3fcskdL

— Express Sports (@IExpressSports) March 5, 2024

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Captain Rohit Sharma hugely benefited from playing five bowlers in all five Tests. When England batsmen would get into an aggressive zone, he would juggle his bowlers. There have been games when the spinners have gone for runs, that’s when the two pacers would step up.

In the third Test at Rajkot, when the spinners were going for runs and Jasprit Bumrah too was not effective, it was Mohammad Siraj who stepped it up. In Dharamsala, the story was different. In the first innings, Bumrah and Siraj couldn’t get wickets and the two finger spinners – Ashwin and Jadeja – too weren’t successful on the hard first day track. In comes wrist spinner Kuldeep to take four of the top five wickets.

A close scrutiny of all the games shows that the key battle was between India’s bowling and England’s batting since both were full of experienced players. “England came here with an experienced batting line-up. Their inexperience was in their bowling. Their experience was in the batting and they had the ascendancy with bat in hand at that point of time and we needed to respond. Our experience was in bowling and we won those contests. Our experience and nous in those moments triumphed over their experience and that was a critical part of the series,” Dravid said.

WTC 2023-25:R Ashwin’s brilliant performance with the ball led India to the win in Dharamsala.

Coach Dravid would also explain the complexity of picking a playing XI that is full of highly talented players. This in context to Kuldeep Yadav’s long wait to get a Test. “It’s been tough on Kuldeep. He’s bowling at a time when there are legends of the game (Ashwin and Jadeja) who are playing as spinners. So it’s not been easy for Kuldeep. He hasn’t played a lot of red-ball cricket since making his debut here in 2017. Given the context, for him to come into this series and perform the way he has, it’s been absolutely superb,” Dravid said.

So does he play when India travels abroad? “What happens when we go overseas, we will have to just see. Ashwin, 500 wickets in 100 Tests, sometimes doesn’t play in those games. When we go abroad, we don’t get wickets that allow us to play more than one spinner. Sometimes we are playing without a spinner on wickets like that. Those are the kind of wickets that are being prepared. Sometimes it’s tough,” said the coach. Dravid was pensive again.

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