Dravid feels India need to be more consistent

Mumbai: Captain Rahul Dravid on Saturday played down suggestions that India are favourites for the upcoming tour of the West Indies, saying such projections had backfired on previous visits.

“The West Indies are a difficult team to beat at home. We need to play really well if we have to win the series. People said the same thing during our last two tours, that we had a great chance. I think they will be very competitive customers,” Dravid said.

India are scheduled to play five one-dayers and four Tests from May 18 to July 4.

They have not won a series in the Caribbean after the historic 1-0 triumph under Ajit Wadekar in 1971. They lost 0-1 in the five-Test series in 1997 and then 1-2 during the next and last visit in 2002.

“We need to play good cricket throughout. I think we played well in patches on the last two tours. We had our opportunities,” Dravid told reporters on the sidelines of a promotional event.

On playing against Brian Lara, who has been appointed captain of the West Indies for the third time, Dravid said he was looking forward to the face-off.

“Brian has always been a great and phenomenal player. Obviously he’s got knowledge and idea of the game.”

“Having played against and with him (in the ICC Super Series in Australia), I can say he’s been a terrific role model for West Indies cricket,” Dravid said.

“I am looking forward to the challenge of playing against him again. It should be a very good series.

“If we want to win a Test series in the West Indies or anywhere else, especially in a three or four Test series, we need to be more consistent,” the Bangalorean said.

On excess cricket, Dravid felt it was more important to have gaps between series.

“I think 12 Test matches and 30 one-day Internationals are probably the sort of agreed limit. It’s probably a good number that can be played in a year.

“We would like to have gaps in between series as far as possible. It’s also a question of managing the resources. We know there’s going to be lot of cricket, a lot of matches.

“There’s a challenge for the selectors and the team management to manage the squad in such a way so that they can rotate the players,” he said.

The Team India captain refused to comment on the schedule of the ICC Champions Trophy in October-November this year, barely six months before the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.

“It’s hard to get everything perfect, I guess. These tournaments have been scheduled long ago. I don’t want to comment on the scheduling of these tournaments and would rather stay away from it,” he replied.