Taking stock: Gill and Shardul are keen to figure out what the Eden surface has to offer.
| Photo Credit: DEEPAK KR
Breaking down the World Cup campaign to one game at a time has defined India’s successful path so far. The theory was once again elaborated upon by coach Rahul Dravid in the pre-match press conference at the Eden Gardens here on Saturday.
“We are just looking at the match ahead. We have a league match to play and South Africa is a good team. We are not thinking too far ahead and where this campaign will end. We are focusing on what we can do and we have been doing well so far and if the other team still outplays us, well we will shake hands and move on,” Dravid said ahead of Sunday’s clash against South Africa.
The coach was happy with the way Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav batted recently. “It was unfortunate that Shubman picked up dengue and missed in the beginning. He did well to comeback and score. As for Shreyas we always knew that he had the ability, just that he was not converting his starts but in the game against Sri Lanka, he realised that he had a platform and he went big. Suryakumar has also done well, he was able to switch gears and slow down when wickets fell and, at the same time, he is the kind of player who could add quick runs in the end,” Dravid said.
In all the talk about India’s speedsters, Dravid felt that the spinners have gone under the radar. “Ravindra Jadeja has done really well, bowling tight, getting us those crucial runs and he has always been a brilliant fielder. Kuldeep Yadav too has bowled well but I think both have gone slightly under the radar and not got the credit that they should have,” the coach said.