"Would Be In-Authentic If...": Rahul Dravid On World Cup Semi-final Against New Zealand

India head coach Rahul Dravid has no hesitation in admitting that his side's World Cup semi-final against New Zealand on Wednesday would be a high-pressure game and there are simply no guarantees even after a near flawless performance in the nine league games. "I would be in-authentic if I say that there will be no pressure of semi-final. You have no guarantees to win any game of cricket. What you can do is prepare the best you can and we've been doing that,"

ravid told Star Sports after India's 160-run win over the Netherlands. It now boils down to two good matches and everything could come to a naught if India lose to a team that had caused them grief in 2019.

"When it's going well it looks good. One loss and everyone says you don't know anything," Dravid replied cheekily when told about how the broadcasters were analysing his performance in the league games.

Dravid was particularly happy with how Shreyas Iyer has been showing consistency at the back-end of the tournament.

"Shreyas Iyer is the backbone of our middle order, and we all know how tough it has been for us to find a good No. 4 batter for the last 10 years," Dravid said.

Rohit's men topped the league standings with 18 points and face fourth-placed side New Zealand on November 15 in Mumbai in the first semi-final.

"Very pleased at how we've played in these nine games. Very clinical from game one to today," he added.

The best aspect of India's campaign has been a total team performance where all eleven players have done their bit at some point or the other.

"Different individuals have stepped up and put their hand up and done the job. Everyone wanted to take the responsibility.

"We started the tournament four games in a row chasing, and then we had to bat first and the pacers did the job along with the spinners." Rohit said his side never looked too far and took one game at a time.

"Since we started the tournament, it was all about one game at a time. We never wanted to look too far ahead. It is a long tournament, 11 games in all if we go all the way," he said.

Topics mentioned in this article

Rahul Dravid Shreyas Iyer KL Rahul India Cricket Team Netherlands World Cup 2023 Cricket