Coach Rahul Dravid makes BIG statement, reveals Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja were missed in SA ODIs

Team India’s head coach Rahul Dravid had no hesitation in admitting that the ODI squad lacked balance with the likes of Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja unavailable to execute their all-round skills at numbers six and seven respectively. India lost the three-match ODI series 0-3 and Dravid answered a range of questions covering the poor show in middle-overs both in batting and bowling, KL Rahul’s nascent captaincy career and how Venkatesh Iyer is not being thought of as a top-order batter.

“Yeah, we understand the template. Obviously, a large part of the template is also dependant on the balance of your squad,” Dravid replied when asked if the Indian team needs to revisit its template in 50-over cricket.

That’s that from the final ODI. South Africa win by 4 runs and take the series 3-0.

Scorecard – https://t.co/dUN5jhH06v #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/lqrMH4g0U9

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 23, 2022

“I think if you are a little bit honest, some of the guys who help us balance the squad out and give us those all-round options at Nos 6, 7 and 8 are probably not here, and available for selection,” Dravid said, clearly talking about the absence of Pandya, who is trying to get his bowling fitness back and Jadeja, who is recuperating from a knee injury.

“Hopefully, when they (Hardik and Jadeja) come back, it will give us lot more depth, it allows us then to probably play in a slightly different style,” Dravid added.

‘KL Rahul did a decent job’

Dravid’s assessment of his namesake’s leadership skills was pretty lavish as he wanted people to factor in that he could only do as much with the kind of squad he had at his disposal. “I thought he did a good job. Not easy to be on wrong side of the result. He is just starting out as captain,” he said.

“…..And he will learn and a large part of captaincy is execution of skills by your players and quality of side you have got. We were a little bit short on the ODI side of things and I thought he did a very decent job, someone who is growing and will constantly be improving and get better as a captain.”

(with PTI inputs)