Chandigarh: Rahul Dravid on Monday credited Anil Kumble and Munaf Patel for “setting up the game” and said there was no guarantee that India would play with five bowlers in the final Test in Mumbai.

“I’m not so sure if we will play five bowlers in Mumbai. It will depend on the wicket, it will depend on the number of bowlers we feel will get us 20 wickets,” he remarked.

“If it is anywhere near the one on which we played against Australia, we won’t need five bowlers... I think it should be a good wicket, like it was when we played against South Africa in the one-dayer. We have got options in the side, we could play three spinners or three seamers. We are looking at going ahead, and that will make us a better side.”

Dravid agreed fifth bowler Chawla was underused. “Piyush didn’t get much of a chance. It can happen sometimes. We are looking to get 20 wickets and looking to be positive.

“England showed us in the Ashes what an impact you can make when you have five specialist bowlers. If you want to obtain good consistent results, you have to be flexible and take your chances. We backed ourselves and hoped for runs from the lower order.”

Despite the 1-0 lead, Dravid was not willing to show any signs of complacency. “There is a lot of fight left in them. They are a very competitive unit, a very good side. I expect them to come back hard. This win was not easy, the nine-wicket margin doesn’t reflect how the contest was,” he said.

Dravid was excited about playing his 100th Test in Mumbai. “It’s going to be a special occasion for me to join a host of cricketers, some of whom were my heroes during those early days. I have had the honour of playing with some of them, it’s a special feeling? I never thought when I made my debut in 1996 that I will be playing for so long. Hopefully, I will be in the winning side in that game.”

Dravid was satisfied with his batting. “England have a very good attack, one of the better seam attacks I have played. To make those runs in difficult circumstances against a quality attack was extremely satisfying. It was probably one of my most satisfying knocks.”

Does he regret falling for the ninth time in the 90s? “It’s never nice to be dismissed in the 90s, but at the end of the day, we won a game of cricket, so it doesn’t matter too much.”

Virender Sehwag’s return to form has come as a huge relief for the side. “Everyone scoring runs is important. It’s nice to see Veeru back among the runs. He has been working really hard in the nets. To be fair, he got a very good ball in the first innings. When he gets going, he scores quickly as well, and that makes a lot of difference.

“After losing a couple of days due to rain, I thought on the third evening that a draw was the most likely result. But we also knew that if we could get ahead and if we could get the spinners to exert pressure on days four and five with the ball turning and bouncing we had a chance. Anil and Munaf set the game up for us with their bowling,” he said.

The captain also paid rich tribute to Anil Kumble. “He is a great cricketer but more importantly, a fine person. He has been a huge inspiration for me right through, from junior cricket to first-class cricket for Karnataka and for India. The way he has carried himself and that he is still standing there performing as well as he is doing now, is a tribute to his skills as a great cricketer. People do tend to forget that he is a great spin bowler. His quality as a person, too, is unmistakable. I won’t swap Anil for anyone in any conditions.”

A fitting compliment.