By IANS,
Vadodara : Former India captain Rahul Dravid found support from his skipper Anil Kumble and coach Gary Kirtsen after his decent outing at the Irani Trophy.
Dravid, who was out of form in the Test series in Sri Lanka in July, bound back to scoring ways with a 46 in the first innings and a painstaking 69 in the second innings for the Rest of India (ROI) against Delhi in the Irani Trophy match. In the three Tests in Sri Lanka, Dravid scored 148 runs at an average of 24.66 and his highest was 68.
“I think it turned out to be a good outing for him. He (Dravid) achieved what he had come for,” Kirsten told reporters after the ROI won the Irani Trophy here Saturday.
“He is a key player for us and has been successful for years. I do not look at a particular game, but performance over 6-7 months. If someone has been in form for that period, it does not matter if he does well or not in a game,” he added.
Kirsten felt that the knocks will give Dravid the boost ahead of the four-match Test series against Australia.
“He knows now we face Australia, the world number one team and it should give boost to his confidence,” he said.
Captain Kumble was also happy with Dravid’s performance.
“He is a class act. In this kind of situation, you have to bat long and grind the bowlers. He knows that and he did a great job. It obviously feels good to have some runs behind him before the series against Australia,” he said.