On the eve of the series-deciding ODI against Australia, Indian team head coach Rahul Dravid said he is very happy with the team profile prepared by the Indian team from the home ODIs played this year and has expressed his confidence in the team for the World Cup. For this, 17-18 players have been identified.
India has already played three matches each against Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Two matches have been played in this series and the third will be played here on Wednesday. Dravid was asked if he had achieved what he set out to do in the nine home ODIs with the World Cup in mind. So he said, yes to a large extent.
Irrespective of the result of tomorrow’s match, we have got a lot of clarity from these nine matches. We need to continue this clarity. The Indian coach said that for us it is now about combining different XIs. We have to make sure that we can change the combination if needed during the World Cup.
Dravid said that we will not get more matches in home conditions. By the time the IPL is over, to a large extent, we will be clear about the team and the players. We have narrowed it down to 17-18 players. Key players in the team like Jasprit Bumrah, Iyer, Prasidh Krishna, Deepak Chahar are troubled by injuries but Dravid insisted that the team is in good shape.
He said that we have some players who are recovering from injuries and they will stake claim for a place in the team when they recover. There are a few different combinations we’d love to try. It is a big tournament, we want flexibility in our team. Sometimes with four fast bowlers and sometimes with three spinners
