Rahul Dravid applauded Shikhar Dhawan and co for fighting back like a champion team after they snatched a win from the jaws of defeat.
Team India coach for the Sri Lankan tour Rahul Dravid gave a powerful and rousing speech after his side's come-from-behind victory in the second ODI against Sri Lanka. BCCI's official handle posted a video of post-match reactions where the former Indian cricketer was seen applauding the efforts of his boys and saying that 'it was a complete team performance'.
Talking about the importance of the fight the team showed irrespective of the result, Dravid said, "We obviously finished on the right side of the result… It was fantastic. Even if we did not finish on the right side, it’s the fight that was absolutely important. Well done to all of you."
Team India's batting innings was going nowhere as a couple of small partnerships kept them afloat, however, they weren't enough for them to push for a win as they were reduced to 193/7 by Sri Lanka, owing to a fabulous spell from leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga, who took three crucial wickets.
Hailing it as a complete team performance, Dravid reckoned that it wasn't the time to talk about individual performances, which they will eventually do in the team meetings.
"It’s not the time to talk about individual performances. We will talk about that in our meetings when we analyse everything. But when you look at the whole game, it was a really good team performance. There were so many performances right across in our bowling, batting even at the start obviously the batters, in the end, finished it off. It was a fantastic team performance," he added.
Deepak Chahar starred for the visitors with both bat and the ball and also did Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Chahar picked up two wickets with the ball and later played an innings for the ages for a number 8 batsman coming in at 160/6 with the team in trouble. Chahar slammed his maiden half-century and ended up scoring 69* runs off just 82 balls. Bhuvi gave him ample support with a knock of 19* runs, scoring two crucial boundaries.
Dravid further added that they knew Sri Lanka after the loss in the first game were going to come hard at them in the second ODI, which they did, however, the visitors fought back harder, which makes them a champion team.
"We said that they were going to respond. We have to respect the opposition. They responded and we responded back like a champion team. With our backs to the wall, we found a way to win. Proud of all of you, very well done," the 48-year old added.
You can watch the full video here.
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