'Youngsters should deal with fans'

Dravid said the fans should show 'perspective' while reacting, but the youngsters should also learn to take the rough with the smooth.

Captain Rahul Dravid on Thursday said the Indian fans would do well to show some "perspective" when responding to the national team's success and failures but the youngsters in the team should also learn to take the rough with the smooth when it comes to dealing with people's reactions.

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Dravid, who has been at the receiving end of irate fans in the past, said such response was only typical of Indian public.

"Of course, we would like to be supported in difficult times, but this is the way Indian fans are," the captain said on the eve of the second ODI.

The Karnataka batsman should know a thing or two about the extent to which the fans would go to vent their anger when the team fails miserably.

India, after being bundled out for 125, lost to Australia in their first match of the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. Fans back home stoned Dravid's house in Bangalore and attacked Mohammad Kaif's residence in Allahabad as well.

"We receive praise when we do well and get criticised when we don't do well. A little bit of perspective of the situation would be nice," Dravid said.

"They have to keep their focus and not get too excited, nor disappointed with the fans."

Mahendra Singh Dhoni had said on Wednesday that the team was not getting the kind of support it should get from the public, citing the boorish crowd behaviour in the Mumbai Test against England.