Cricket: 'I'm not disappointed,' says Rahul Dravid to young batsmen after Sri Lanka's T20I series win over India

Rahul Dravid, the coach of India's tour to Sri Lanka said that he is not "disappointed" with the performance of young batsmen after India lost the T20I series 2-1 to Lankans. At the post-match press conference, Dravid also said that the young batters have to "keep improving and getting better". 

In a three-match T20I series, Sri Lanka hammered India by seven wickets in decider to clinch the series on Thursday (July 29). The batting order failed to perform as they managed to set a low target of 82 runs that Sri Lanka achieved with 33 balls to spare. 

"I'm not disappointed. They are young batters, they have to keep improving and getting better," Dravid said of the batting performance. 

Coming from a series win in ODIs, India made a convincing start in the T20s as well by winning the first match. Sri Lanka on the other hand, bounced back to win the second match that was delayed by one day due after India's Krunal Pandya tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19). 

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As several first-choice players are in England preparing for the test series, COVID-19 caused further jolts to the Shikhar Dhawan-led team, which was dubbed as a second-string side due to the unavailability of experienced players who travelled to Colombo. 

However, Dravid shed light on one's struggles at the start of the career and also praised Sri Lanka's bowling attack. "This was a really young team. All of us have had our struggles playing quality bowling, whether it's spin or pace." 

"The Sri Lankan team's bowling attack is their international bowling attack. They're missing a few batsmen because of various reasons, but this is a top quality attack. So it's a great opportunity to reflect on these performances, reflect on these conditions, and maybe come up with some slightly better strategies," the former cricketer said.  

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Dravid said, "Early on in our careers, we've all had those struggles and we've all had to fight our way through that. None of us have been perfect when we started, whether it's my generation or any generation for that matter. It needs experience."

"To be honest, some of them were under-prepared. But I don't think the talent is missing, either in spin bowling or in the batting. We just need a little bit more experience in being able to figure out a few more different kinds of shots when we're challenged with these kind of pitches. We just need to figure out a couple of more options. It was tough batting for them (Sri Lanka) as well," he added. 

"I just think the balance of our team in the last couple of games meant we had a couple of batsmen short, which was always challenging. But the great positive for me was the way the guys have fought," Dravid said.

With a comfortable win in Colombo on July 29 (Thursday), Sri Lanka registered their first bilateral series win over India in 13 years across formats as in 2008, Sri Lanka had defeated India in a three-Test series 2-1 at home. The Lankans have won their first T20I series win since 2019.