If It’s High-Scoring Game, Then You Want Players To Maintain Strike Rate: Dravid
Mumbai: During the virtual press conference ahead of the five-match T20I series against South Africa, Team India head coach Rahul Dravid said he expects players to maintain a strike rate in high-scoring matches in the series.
The South African team has announced a very strong lineup for the India tour and is expected to give a tough fight to the world’s number one team. Notably, the Indian management decided to rest two of their top-order star players, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, for this five-match T20I series at home.
“If it’s a high-scoring game, then obviously you want your players to maintain the strike rate. If the wicket is more challenging, then they have to respond to that as well,” said Dravid in the virtual press conference.
“I’m confident anyone in the top three will be able to play the role according to the situation of the match. We know our top three’s quality. They are top class. There will be a slightly different top three in this series but what we are looking for (in general) is a good positive start and playing according to the situation,” he concluded.
Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had a poor performances in the Indian Premier League 2022 season last month. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma struggled to score a single half-century this season, scoring just 268 runs at a strike rate of 120.17.
Kohli managed to score 341 runs but his strike rate at the end of the season was 115.99. He scored a crucial 73 against Titans to propel RCB into the knockout stages but failed to make an impact in the second qualifier match.
India is all set to go into the upcoming T20 World Cup with Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli as a formidable top-order.
Rahul Dravid has praised these three as being of ‘high quality, but he also has faith in other players in place of the resting pair of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Ruturaj Gaikwad is expected to open with KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer will move up to number three in the opening match against South Africa tomorrow.
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