India Lead Series 2-1: Dravid Reminds McCullum As India Respond To Mind Games Ahead Of Edgbaston Test

Birmingham: India coach Rahul Dravid on Wednesday responded to new England head coach Brendon McCullum’s statement of his side playing positive cricket that would have set the alarm bells around world cricket by stating that currently India are leading the series 2-1 and the visitors, as a side have also played positive cricket that is reflecting in their performance and standing in World Test Championship table (WTC 2023).

“Any way they play gives us opportunities, to be honest. We are leading the series 2-1. It’s up to us. We’ve to focus on our cricket, not worry too much about what England is doing and the way they are playing. We’ve to focus on what we’ve to do,” Dravid said in a virtual press conference ahead of the Edgbaston Test.

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“To be honest with you, we’ve been on a pretty positive side as well. We were second in the World Test Championship cycle last year, this year we find ourselves third in the table, just underneath the top two. We’ve been pretty successful in getting 20 wickets and winning Test matches. That for me is positive cricket as well,” he added.

Dravid also mentioned that more than scoring centuries, India wants Virat Kohli to chip in with match-winning contributions.

“A guy like him, the kind of standards he’s set and the number of hundreds he’s scored, people only see hundreds as a success. But for me, from a coach’s perspective, we want match-winning contributions from him, whether that’s a 50 or a 60,” he said.

“From our perspective, there’s not so much focus on three figures. From us, it’s the contributions – he continues to contribute on and off the field, the way he carries himself, he does inspire a lot of the guys in the group,” he added.