Rahul Dravid welcomed long-time team-mate and fellow Test debutant Sourav Ganguly's entry to the IPL. Dravid and Ganguly had enjoyed a memorable debut with the latter getting to a century and Dravid walking for a snick when he was on 95 at Lord's, and Dravid said he was happy to see his old team-mate playing. "I am happy for him," Dravid said. "He has got the opportunity to play in the IPL like he wanted and I hope it goes well for him."
On the other hot topic in Indian cricket - the appointment of Duncan Fletcher as the new coach - Dravid welcomed the decision and looked forward to interacting with him.
"He obviously comes with a great record, having coached international teams and a lot of great international players also. So I am looking forward to catching up with him when I get the opportunity.
"I haven't had the chance to interact one on one with him at any stage. I will soon interact with him and see what his thoughts are and how we can take it forward," said Dravid at a pre-match conference ahead of Rajasthan Royals' clash against Chennai Super Kings.
Dravid is playing under an opponent he has had many battles with - most memorably in the unforgettable 2001 series between India and Australia - in Shane Warne for the Rajasthan Royals, and said he had "never dreamt" of playing along side the spin legend in the same team.
"I never dreamt it would happen. I never imagined. But that's the beauty of the IPL. It gives this opportunity to play with the guys you have really competed hard against.
"We have discussed (the 2001) series over a few times in the course of the last four weeks. Being together so much you know, we've discussed a lot of other series too. I really enjoy my time playing under Warne and I think he brings an infectious enthusiasm to our side.
"He sets very good fields, shows very good leadership. It's been fun, as I said it's the beauty of the IPL that you play with some guys you've had some fantastic battles with," he said.
Regarding tomorrow's clash, Dravid, whose team have won three successive matches, said, "If the law of averages catch up with us I hope they catch up with Chennai as well. They've also won three in a row. (But) it's good to have momentum, especially in Twenty20.
"We're coming into this game with a bit of momentum behind us and obviously when playing a team like Chennai, who are the defending champions, you want to have a bit of confidence behind you. I think we've had a good week, hopefully we can play some good cricket."
Dravid said he was comfortable with the Twenty20 format.
"I've always been at peace with this format. I think I was totally taken out of context. My comment was that if I was 20 or 21 year old, I would've looked at this format and realised there's a future in this format and this was something I needed to master.
"It's just that for lot of us this format came at a later stage. It was like 50 overs. When I was 20, 21 I knew that I'd have to well in 50 overs because it was going to play a significant part in my life.
"Any kid today who's 20, 21 has got to recognize the fact that T20 is going to be a significant part of his life whether he likes it or not. That was the basis of my comment. I don't know how it got misinterpreted. I always liked this format. I get to travel across the country, share the dressing room with great players. I also enjoy the fact that it seems to capture the imagination of the country for six weeks, which is nice for a domestic tournament to be able to do that," he stated.
Rahul Dravid welcomed long-time team-mate and fellow Test debutant Sourav Ganguly's entry to the IPL. Dravid and Ganguly had enjoyed a memorable debut with the latter getting to a century and Dravid walking for a snick when he was on 95 at Lord's, and Dravid said he was happy to see his old team-mate playing. "I am happy for him," Dravid said. "He has got the opportunity to play in the IPL like he wanted and I hope it goes well for him."On the other hot topic in Indian cricket - the appointment of Duncan Fletcher as the new coach - Dravid welcomed the decision and looked forward to interacting with him.
"He obviously comes with a great record, having coached international teams and a lot of great international players also. So I am looking forward to catching up with him when I get the opportunity.
"I haven't had the chance to interact one on one with him at any stage. I will soon interact with him and see what his thoughts are and how we can take it forward," said Dravid at a pre-match conference ahead of Rajasthan Royals' clash against Chennai Super Kings.
Dravid is playing under an opponent he has had many battles with - most memorably in the unforgettable 2001 series between India and Australia - in Shane Warne for the Rajasthan Royals, and said he had "never dreamt" of playing along side the spin legend in the same team.
"I never dreamt it would happen. I never imagined. But that's the beauty of the IPL. It gives this opportunity to play with the guys you have really competed hard against.
"We have discussed (the 2001) series over a few times in the course of the last four weeks. Being together so much you know, we've discussed a lot of other series too. I really enjoy my time playing under Warne and I think he brings an infectious enthusiasm to our side.
"He sets very good fields, shows very good leadership. It's been fun, as I said it's the beauty of the IPL that you play with some guys you've had some fantastic battles with," he said.
Regarding tomorrow's clash, Dravid, whose team have won three successive matches, said, "If the law of averages catch up with us I hope they catch up with Chennai as well. They've also won three in a row. (But) it's good to have momentum, especially in Twenty20.
"We're coming into this game with a bit of momentum behind us and obviously when playing a team like Chennai, who are the defending champions, you want to have a bit of confidence behind you. I think we've had a good week, hopefully we can play some good cricket."
Dravid said he was comfortable with the Twenty20 format.
"I've always been at peace with this format. I think I was totally taken out of context. My comment was that if I was 20 or 21 year old, I would've looked at this format and realised there's a future in this format and this was something I needed to master.
"It's just that for lot of us this format came at a later stage. It was like 50 overs. When I was 20, 21 I knew that I'd have to well in 50 overs because it was going to play a significant part in my life.
"Any kid today who's 20, 21 has got to recognize the fact that T20 is going to be a significant part of his life whether he likes it or not. That was the basis of my comment. I don't know how it got misinterpreted. I always liked this format. I get to travel across the country, share the dressing room with great players. I also enjoy the fact that it seems to capture the imagination of the country for six weeks, which is nice for a domestic tournament to be able to do that," he stated.
© Cricbuzz (with inputs from agencies)
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