Rahul Dravid sees New Zealand's series as a challenge for Team India

[[{“value”:”

Legendary Team India cricketer Rahul Dravid feels that Team India has fallen a bit behind in the race to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) final.

In the ongoing two-match Test series against Sri Lanka, Team India has won the first match. Shubman Gill-led men are busy featuring in the second clash against Sri Lanka. Having won the first game, the former cricketer feels that it is a good step for Team India.

“I’m hoping they do. It’ll be a great run if India can qualify for the WTC final from here,” he said on JioStar.

“They’ve fallen behind a little bit, but the kind of quality that the Indian team has, you’re not going to write them off at any stage. They started off well against Sri Lanka, so that’s a good first step,” added Dravid.

Currently placed fifth in the points table, two-time finalists Team India are locked in an uphill battle to win the majority of their remaining matches in the World Test Championship 2025-2027 and move up.

Rahul Dravid expresses views on series against New Zealand

Dravid also sees the series against New Zealand as a tough one for Team India, as many of the players from the current team have not played in New Zealand’s conditions. He also said that the team will miss the services of bigwigs like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Ajinkya Rahane.

“(Playing against) New Zealand away, (is) always a challenge. (They are a) tough team, New Zealand, to play away from home. A lot of the young Indian boys have not played in those conditions, so that’s going to be a big challenge,” he said.

“Hopefully, they can keep the guys fit and not have a lot of injuries over the next few months. We’re missing the experience of Virat (Kohli) and Rohit (Sharma), Ajinkya Rahane and (Cheteshwar) Pujara, these kinds of guys who’ve probably been there the last time India went. So that will be an interesting series as well,” added the veteran of 164 Test matches.

(With PTI Inputs)

“}]]