Batting stalwart Rahul Dravid picks coach Duncan Fletcher's brains to solve a footwork-related problem in the nets
Batting stalwart Rahul Dravid picks coach Duncan Fletcher's brains to solve a footwork-related problem in the nets
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Rahul Dravid is usually a picture of calm after a batting session at the nets. But yesterday, after batting for close to an hour, the India batsman was seen almost yelling, a technical glitch that he was facing in the previous three Tests, during a conversation with coach Duncan Fletcher. It probably had something to do with Dravid being unable to sight the ball clearlyu00a0-- as evident by the fact that he's been bowled on six different occasions in the series (bowled once off a no-ball).
Rahul Dravid bats in the nets at the Adelaide Oval yesterday. Pic/Getty
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Feet issue
Fletcher was heard saying that Dravid's feet were pointing towards mid-off when his bat was meeting the ball. If you watch archive footage of Dravid's batting, his feet were pointing towards cover or extra cover, having made the front foot stride. But now, because his feet are pointing towards mid-off, sans the front-foot stride, there's a gap being created between bat and pad while he's looking to drive the ball. In other words, his feet are not moving as well as they used to. He's started to depend more on hand-eye coordination.
Duncan Fletcher
Dravid was lifting his hand in the air -- indicating that he wasn't sighting the ball clearly. But Fletcher seemed to have all the answers for his batting stalwart. While Dravid spoke about his problems, Fletcher listened patiently. A couple of senior India players have said that they were happy to feed off Fletcher's immense knowledge about batsmanship.
One gets the feeling that if the batting great gets a big score in the fourth and final Test against Australia starting tomorrow, he might call it quits. Otherwise, he might hang around until the home Tests against New Zealand and England next year.
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