Hope we've a settled middle order when we tour Rahul Dravid

Hope we've a settled middle order when we tour Rahul Dravid

Even as they keep thrashing teams at home, many feel that this Indian Test team, apart from its captain Virat Kohli, lacks the `oomph' factor which can bring in the crowds. The jury is still out whether they can replicate their current form overseas, and match up to the feats of Sourav Ganguly & Co in the earlier part of the millennium.

Rahul Dravid, though, is among the lot who has full faith in this bunch. Speaking at the Link Intime annual lecture here on Thursday, the batting legend, who's currently the India `A' and U-19 coach, felt that someone like Cheteshwar Pujara had done well to replace him at the crucial No. 3 position for India.

"Pujara has been exceptional at No. 3 after I've left. He's batted beautifully. He's played well in this series (against England), he is a terrific Test player. I hope that we are going to see his best years ahead. Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin have been exceptional as well, and Virat is absolutely sensational. I think we've some very good talent. I'm very impressed with the batting talent we have and they are growing, developing as a team, they still they are figuring their way out," Dravid praised.

The 164-Test veteran felt that if this current batting order isn't tinkered around with, it may deliver the good for India abroad too.

"It's a nice thing that they have a lot of these home Tests over the next few months and I hope that by the time India travels abroad for tours, we will have a settled batting line up, a sort of confident successful middle order in place. If you have a set middle order and the guys know and are secured in their position, I think it will give us the best chance to succeed abroad too," he recommended.

He pointed out this as one of the reasons behind the success of India's `golden generation' of batsmen during his time, which saw some all-time greats delivering consistently for India.

"It was a great thing that in my generation, we had sort of five batsmen, (Virender) Sehwag, myself, Sachin (Tendulkar), Sourav (Ganguly) and (VVS) Laxman, and even Gambhir for a while, who were settled in the line-up for a long time. I hope that by the time we tour abroad, we've a settled middle-order. The potential is there to succeed in all the conditions," he reiterated.

The retired legend batted for daynight Tests, which he felt were needed to protect and promote the five-day game."There's still a lot of interest in Test cricket. Both my sons follow it. Many website around the world, who show the latest scores in Tests, are doing well. However, if you tell your boss that you're going on a leave for five days to watch a Test match, you probably won't have your job by you return to office on the sixth day! In case of day-night Tests, you can catch up on the action after work, which makes it convenient for everyone," he felt.