Former Legendary India batsman Rahul Dravid has praised Virat Kohli for valuing Test cricket the most. Dravid was known for being the “Wall’ of India’s batting in the longest format of our game. Since the inception of T20 cricket, youngsters now aim at playing 20 over cricket all around the world.
Dravid however still believes that Test cricket is the pinnacle of cricket. The pressure while playing a Test match is at a different level that cannot be compared for T20 cricket. The skills of players get challenged for 5 long days and there is no running away from that. The former Indian captain also pointed out that if a batsman has weakness he still can manage and survive in T20s but not in Test cricket.
Virat Kohli is a great ambassador: Rahul Dravid
Dravid insisted on preparing pitches that offer a balance between bat and ball. He also praised the India cricket team captain Virat Kohli for always talking about Test cricket. Kohli has always maintained that for a player to become successful he has to prove his mettle in Test cricket.
“Going forward we want to see more runs scored, people are playing more shots even in fantastic Test cricket. One of the great things for India is that Virat Kohli values Test cricket. He is always talking about it,” Dravid told Sanjay Manjrekar on the latest episode of ESPNcricinfo Videocast.
“I think he understands that the real respect for him as a cricketer will come through his success in Test cricket and I think that’s a great role model for our young cricketers. I would like to see wickets keep getting challenging, a good balance between bat and ball and I think people will get excited by seeing that,” he added.
Rahul Dravid represented India in 164 Test matches in which he scored 13,288 runs at an average of 52.3 with 36 hundred. He is the second-highest run-scorer for India in Test cricket and is the fourth overall for most runs by a batsman in Test cricket.