'Pehle series jeeto, ye sab irrelevant hai': Ex-PAK captain launches explosive attack on India head coach Rahul Dravid
The former Pakistan captain wasn't too impressed by Rahul Dravid's remarks in the press conference before the series decider against Australia.
Team India will be aiming at a series win on Wednesday when it takes on Australia in the decider in Chennai. While India had registered a five-wicket win in the first ODI, the visitors produced a remarkable comeback in Visakhapatnam, thrashing India by 10 wickets. Mitchell Starc's incredible five-wicket haul ensured India were bowled out on 117; the Aussie opening pair of Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head, then, chased down the target in merely 11 overs.
Following the humiliating defeat in the second ODI, Team India's head coach Rahul Dravid spoke in detail about the side's preparations for the World Cup, set to take place later this year in October-November. The marquee tournament will be staged in India and Dravid stated that the team management has already zeroed-in on 17-18 players who could feature in the World Cup. However, the head coach also stressed on the need to play out different combinations in the XI.
“We have to a large extent (achieved our goals in nine home ODIs). We have got a lot more clarity at the end of these nine games irrespective of what happens tomorrow. We need to keep building on that clarity,” Dravid said.
“For us it is now the different playing XI combinations and just ensuring that we play different combinations at times just to ensure that we are able to do that in the World Cup and we are not surprised by anything in the World Cup."
However, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt is bemused with Dravid's remarks. Butt, who played against Dravid on many occasions during his playing days, stated that India faced a 10-wicket loss only a couple of days ago and that the head coach's priority should be on winning the series, not on trying out “different combinations.”
“Rahul Dravid said that they will keep trying different combinations. Pehle series toh jeeto! Badalna toh irrelevant hai (First win the series! Changing combinations is irrelevant). We've to see how you solve your batting concerns first. All this talk about team combinations… this is were the confusion starts. How much do you want to change?” Butt said on his official YouTube channel in a fierce attack on Dravid.
“At this moment, all the conversations should be around the third ODI and how to win it. If someone asks a different question, you can say that it has got nothing to do with the match. He has talked a lot about combinations, this shouldn't be so frequent.” Butt further said.
The third and final ODI of the series takes place in Chennai.