Dhoni was best towards the end of a match: Dravid

Former India skipper Rahul Dravid has praised the batting of M.S. Dhoni during the backend of a match, saying that the wicket-keeper often played during the period as if the result did not really matter to him.

Dravid also said that in pressure-cooker situations, not worrying about consequences can help players bring out the best in themselves. “You watch M.S. Dhoni play during the backend of a match when he was at his best, you always felt like that he is doing something really important to him but he is playing it like the result does not really matter to him,” Dravid told Sanjay Manjrekar during a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

“I think you need to have that or you need to train for it. It is a skill that I never had. The consequences of any decision mattered to me. It would be interesting to ask Dhoni that is this something that has come naturally to him or did he work on this during his career,” he added.

Dravid also has no qualms in conceding that he wouldn’t “survive” international cricket of today by batting at the pace he did at his prime. He, however, does not believe that defensive technique will become redundant even though the “value is decreasing”.

Dravid said the likes of Virat kohli and Rohit Sharma “have blown the ODI paradigm to an all new level” but a Cheteshwar Pujara will also always be needed in Test cricket. As for himself, he doesn’t mind being called defensive as he always wanted to be a Test player.