‘VVS and I were not big talkers in the middle’: Dravid recalls 2001 Eden Gardens Test

Rahul Dravid and Pipe Laxman A series-defining partnership was forged in the Eden Gardens Test, creating one of the greatest transformations in cricket. In an interview with Times of India, the former India captain reflects on the tactical demands, the marathon stands and how the win became a turning point in Indian cricket.Push boundaries with our YouTube channel. Subscribe now!How did you do before the exam? Eden test?Honestly, it’s incomplete. I scored in the series against Zimbabwe, heading into the Australia series. In domestic cricket, I achieved some success. So, from that perspective, I feel good. In the first Test in Mumbai, I batted for a long time in the second innings and was dismissed by Shane Warne. The same thing happened in the first game at Eden Gardens. But in the context of this series, there’s so much hype and noise around it that I almost feel like I’m really out of it. In fact, I didn’t have a run in three innings.With all this in mind, isn’t it particularly special that Warne’s bowling took him to a hundred?Warne was a fantastic bowler and an absolute legend of the game. Sometimes I feel like he’s better than me because I don’t really score high against him. Against a bowler like him, you want to score a big score, so it feels good to be able to score runs and to be able to play against him like I did.What was your reaction when you were told that you had to bat at number six in the second innings?It turned out to be John Wright And Sourav Ganguly’s decision. They came to me and asked me what I thought about it. This seems reasonable as Laxman bowled brilliantly in the first innings. It made sense to put guys in good form ahead of me at that stage. It did feel a little weird because to me it was just a couple of low-scoring innings, so I did wonder if we were overreacting. But the point of the conversation was to put some pressure on the Australians, and I realized that was probably for the best. The results are outstanding.

You have had some amazing partnerships with Laxman.I have always really enjoyed batting with Laxman because first of all, he is a great player and a great batsman. So, you have a really good seat in the house. He wasn’t exhausted or troubled by much. We played a lot of cricket together for South Districts and some junior cricket as well. We can communicate a little, but we are not like those out-and-out big talkers in the middle. So that fits my game as well. He is one of those players who has the ability to bowl around the wicket and feels like no bowling of any kind can bother him. So when you play alongside a player like him, you gain confidence and belief.You batted for 446 minutes with Laxman. What is the routine you follow?A personal routine I follow before every delivery is to tap the bat twice while moving my feet in a specific way. I took a few breaths and sometimes said to myself: “Watch the ball.” Laxman has his own routine where he likes to draw a lot of lines on the pitch and bang the bat. Sometimes I would pull his leg instead of taking the bat out for him to hit, and he would get a little grumpy about it.What was your reaction when a lot of coverage was given to people in the press box? People have never seen you react like this before…This is somewhat exaggerated. I think in some ways I was stressed out. You can’t really react to everything people say. I understand this better now because I’m wiser, more mature, and have experienced more life in 25 years. But I do feel like there was a lot of negativity and a lot of criticism around the team, which was a little unnecessary at that stage. Also, some of the criticism directed at me is a little unreasonable. I only played three games and didn’t score. I was young and felt the pressure. As a young guy fighting for your place in the team – for your career and the team – you don’t always have the maturity to fully understand the situation. I’m happy to admit 25 years later that maybe I did let things get to me that I shouldn’t have. But it’s not directed at anyone in particular. It was a relief and an outlet for the stress I was feeling. Regardless of my reputation, it can be said that I have always been human.What’s the conversation in the locker room after every practice?This is to keep the pressure on them. Just live in the moment and don’t think too far ahead. We didn’t even think about winning until the last practice on day five. We actually had to bat for a while the next day and we just knocked them out. The score we got in the second innings (657/7 decision) was somewhat of an indirect compliment to the Australian team because they were such a strong team and we believed we had to get so many runs on the board.Is the statement too late?People feel this way. There are always different opinions on this. But the idea is to put pressure on them so they have to defend rather than attack, and never force us to push the outfielders back. There was always someone around the bat which created constant pressure which in turn created opportunities. If we had given them even the slightest chance to attack, the outcome of the game could have been very different.What is the belief for the fifth day?There was a certain sense of belief because we knew the ball was staying low and the wickets were turning. Harbhajan Singh bowled beautifully and was at the top of his game.While you, Laxman and Harbhajan are the headliners, there are other heroes…Some people have truly made an incredible impact. After tea on day five, Sachin’s wicket was absolutely crucial. We don’t get these wickets often, especially getting Adam Gilchrist The outside is huge. Venky (Venkatesh Prasad)’s 42-run stand against Laxman in the first innings and (Sadagopan) Ramesh’s catches were both crucial. Also, Sourav’s captaincy was excellent. He also shot a crucial 48 in the second game. It felt like a team effort. But of course when you have a few big shows like this, people tend to only recognize and remember thoseDid the Eden test make captains wary of conducting subsequent tests?I think this is true. In some ways, I’m not surprised that Australia gave us the follow-up. After the Eden test, I think in some ways you started to see teams being more cautious in delivering subsequent tests. The team is more cautious about executing follow-up operations, especially in subcontinental conditions. I think we’re starting to do that less. I think as an Indian team we are starting to realize that when you have so much time left in the game, it may not be necessary to enforce that many follow-throughs. Time is the key factor in these matters. I think people looked at the follow-up differently after that test.What impact will the Eden Gardens Test have on Indian cricket?It does a lot of things because it gives us a certain amount of stability. John Wright was our first foreign coach and there was some skepticism and criticism as to whether this would work and what might have happened. I can’t answer what might have happened if we didn’t win the series. But what is certain is that the pressure will be on the entire team. But the fact that we were able to go on to win that series and play some really good cricket gave us a little bit of breathing room as a team. It also allows us to build from there and guide the team in a certain direction. Even without this win, I believe Indian cricket will eventually be where it needs to be. But it may take longer. This win also sparked a phase where we started winning the odd Test and series abroad.Do you still have any mementos from that Test?I hid the bat and some other souvenirs somewhere.Twenty-five years, does it feel like a lifetime?People keep reminding me of Bureau. I’ve always cherished it because I think people remember, on some level, what they were doing. To me, that’s really nice because it gives me a feeling that I’m able to be a part of someone’s memory because I did something that I was supposed to do and it’s just part of my job.How would you rate your career wins?I’ve probably hit the ball better in other, more difficult situations, and there have been other hits in terms of sheer at-bat satisfaction. But, given everything that happened and the impact it had on Indian cricket and a lot of our careers, I would certainly say it’s high.