RC Editor

Cometh the situation, cometh the man. Any guesses who are we talking about?

With 11 thousand runs and counting in Tests, more than 10 thousand runs in the ODIs, The Wall opted out of playing T20 Internationals for India at a time when India went on to win the T20 World Cup in 2007. But that never seem to dither his intentions of playing and excelling in the format in the IPL. He proved in his last two stints in the IPL that 20-20 is just another form of cricket and not an alien.

RC Editor

Cometh the situation, cometh the man. Any guesses who are we talking about?

With 11 thousand runs and counting in Tests, more than 10 thousand runs in the ODIs, The Wall opted out of playing T20 Internationals for India at a time when India went on to win the T20 World Cup in 2007. But that never seem to dither his intentions of playing and excelling in the format in the IPL. He proved in his last two stints in the IPL that 20-20 is just another form of cricket and not an alien.

A fantastic season in the international series in India notwithstanding, Dravid is leaving no stones unturned to make this IPL a fruitful one for the team and himself too. Don’t be surprised to see a different Dravid this time around, for he is practicing a few different things his time.

In between to exhaustive batting sessions on Monday at the Chinnaswamy stadium, Dravid let loose his intentions of adapting to the game. Mind you, it’s not easy to flip from a Test mode to the 20-20 mode. But for batsman of Jammy’s calibre, impossible is nothing. When he says, “I am trying out some different shots, looking at some options of hitting the gaps,” one looks amazed at the eagerness to learn even after having achieved so much.

“I am trying to work on areas where I might have to walk into any situation and play accordingly. In 20-20, things change very fast. You might go in between the first or fifth over, but again you might go in the 16th over. You can never really say what can be the role of a batsman in this format.” Dravid quips.

Prod a little on his personal form, he says, “I am batting well for the past six months and hitting the ball well. Frankly speaking my aim is to be flexible this year. That’s what I am aiming to do this year and can react to whatever the situation I am asked to go in.

Knowledgeable of the fact that with the tag of runners-up, Team RC now has to cater to huge expectations from the fans and the followers of the game, Dravid, however, thinks that if the team picks up the momentum in the initial stages, RC can go onto win the tournament. “20-20 is little bit about momentum. I don’t think our team has changed very much from the first IPL to this year. But we have a bit more momentum this time. We showed that last year that though we struggled initially, when we got into a roll with the momentum we went all through to the finals.”

However, there is a word of caution from The Wall. “No team enters a tournament without the intention to win it. But we have to really play well this time. All the teams are well placed this time. With a bit of luck, I think we can win this year,” Dravid sums up, as he prepared to have another stint at the nets.