T20Is boil down to two hits: Rahul Dravid

Adelaide, November 1

India resume their bid for a T20 World Cup semifinal spot when they face Bangladesh tomorrow, and coach Rahul Dravid has said there is no room for complacency despite his team losing only one of its last 11 matches against their neighbours.

India registered wins over Pakistan and the Netherlands in this tournament before crashing to a five-wicket defeat against South Africa, who lead Group 2 with five points. With the top two from the group set to advance, India and Bangladesh have four points each, with India ahead on net run rate.

“We respect them a lot. I think they’re a very good team,” Dravid said today. “This format and this World Cup has really shown us you can’t take any team lightly. Ireland showed that against England… The fact that it’s already such a short format. The margins of victory and defeat even if they’re 12-15 runs, it’s actually two hits. It’s two hits one way or the other and that’s the game.”

“On top of that, these conditions have levelled the playing field to a large extent, because the boundaries are bigger. Some of those hits you expect in the subcontinent to go for six… It’s not happening that easily. People are getting out,” Dravid said.

Dravid hoped that India, without injured pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, would be able to stem the flow of runs in late overs. “It’s an area that we’ve wanted to look to address, to get better at,” Dravid said. — Reuters