WTC Final: Rahul Dravid responds to tough question from Sourav Ganguly as India lose – ‘It was not about press

Giving context to his question, Ganguly inquisitively reminded Dravid about his playing days when the talks were always about taking the pressure early in a Test match and not batting in the fourth innings.

“Rahul, I have played so much cricket with you. You have captained so much for India. I have played with you for so long and the discussion was always that we will take pressure at the start and not on the Day 5 of the Test match,” Ganguly said.

“What was the thought behind choosing to bowl first in the Test match?” Ganguly said finishing his question.

Dravid started by asserting that the decision had nothing to do with handling pressure and overcast conditions drove India towards the call to bowl first. He said India lost the edge with the edge after Travis Smashed 163 off 174 and stitched a 285-run partnership for the fourth wicket in the first innings.

“It was not about pressure. We decided to bowl first in the Test match because the conditions were overcast and there was quite a lot of grass on the pitch. So, we thought that it would get easier to bat on later in the pitch and that was the same case here also. Most teams in recent times have opted to field first in England,” Dravid said.

“We thought that it was a great decision at 70/3 and then we leaked a lot of runs in the next two sessions. Even if we would have gotten them out by 300, we would have been in the game. We could have had a chance in the fourth innings. We could have chased down 300-320 in the final innings of the game,” he added.

India played the catching game throughout the Test after Australia piled up 469 in the first innings. India finished their first innings at 296 before Australia set them a 444-run target. India added just 70 runs to their overnight total and lost seven wickets as they got bundled out for 234 in the first session on Day 5.