India have finally made their way into the final of the World Test Championships 2021-23 after Zealand defeated Sri Lanka in the first match of their two-game Test series.
Rahul Dravid admitted that as soon as Australia batted first in the 4th Test, he knew that taking a win would not be easy and they would have to depend on the Test match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
“The first day we saw the wicket in Ahmedabad, we instantly knew winning the toss would be crucial. Then the way Australia batted in the first two days, forced us to depend on the outcome between Sri Lanka and New Zealand,” said Dravid in an interaction with Star Sports. He also said that they were hoping Sri Lanka don’t win the match.
“We were eagerly watching, hoping Sri Lanka doesn’t win. The World Test Championship is a two-year long event, all the teams play six Test series each, so it’s natural you’ll be dependent on others. Although you have to put in your best but in competitions such as this you are also dependent on others,” he said.
“The good thing is that New Zealand, who mostly knock us out of ICC tournaments, gave us little support. We are thankful to them,” Dravid added. Dravid also said that they were glued to the TV screens for the final 5-6 overs during the lunch.
“We were stressed to see New Zealand attack and aim for a victory, instead of thinking of a draw. We were discussing this among ourselves. But we had to make peace with that as New Zealand will definitely target a win rather than playing a draw. In fact we did watch the final 5-6 overs during Lunch on the screen and it got really exciting,” said Dravid.