Can't write them off but NZ tour will be tough: Dravid on India's WTC chances

MUMBAI: Former head coach Rahul Dravid says India have slightly "fallen behind" in the race to qualify for the World Test Championships final and even though the performance in Sri lanka right now is encouraging, it would not be easy for the team to put it past New Zealand during an upcoming series.

Currently placed fifth in the points table, two-time finalists 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.

With top two teams slated to play in the final next year, India, who are ranked fifth behind Bangladesh, will play two away Tests in New Zealand before taking on Australia in a five-Test series at home from January 2027. India will also play five ODIs and as many T20Is against the Kiwis.

"I'm hoping they do. It'll be a great run if India can qualify for the WTC final from here," Dravid, a team owner in European T20 Premier League (ETPL), told 'JioStar' when asked if India would be able to make the summit clash from here.

"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," he said.

India lead the two-match series against Sri Lanka 1-0 and have the upperhand in the second Test following a solid batting performance.

Talking about the New Zealand tour in October, Dravid said the experience of retired seniors such as Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara would be missed in the two Tests.

"(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," Dravid added.

The former India captain said even the visiting Australian team would have players desperate to do well in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy come January.

"Australia will be really exciting. A lot of their players will be very keen to do well in India. That's a generation of truly great Australian players, a great Australian team that has not won in India. So they'll be keen to do that," Dravid said.

Be patient with Sooryavanshi

Dravid also called for a patient approach towards 15-year-old batting talent Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, saying he would need a "couple of seasons of red-ball cricket" to find his feet in the longest format.

"With Vaibhav, you've got to be patient. He's only 15-years-old, and from what I've seen of the kid, I have no doubt that given the opportunity to practice and play domestic cricket and a couple of seasons of red-ball cricket, he will be able to hold his own in a Test match team," he said.

Dravid said it would be challenging to find space for domestic cricket in Sooryavanshi's calendar, which will be quite packed because of white-ball duties with the national team.

"Whether he'll be able to break into the eleven with the guys already performing, that's a different story and a tricky one."

"Whether he'll have the time to play two full seasons of domestic cricket because he'll be so busy playing for India in the white-ball format, I'm not sure about that. So skill-wise, I think no problem; whether they'll be able to do it because of schedules might be a bit more tricky," Dravid said.