India can win Down Under - Dravid

Dravid's form may serve India's interests as they take on formidable Australia ( Aus is always formidable in Aus ).

As the Kangaroos are under the inexperienced Clarke, Dravid feels that India
can triumph.

"In terms of personal satisfaction in terms of batting, yes I am very happy.
I got more runs in 2002 but that seems so far away, so [I] can't even
remember what it was like," Dravid said.

"I think some of the runs that I got this year classify as what you call 'tough runs'. They were in pretty tough conditions
when the team needed it. So, in that sense, I do feel this was one of my
better years personally as a player. Obviously the tour of England was
disappointment. From that point of view it was disappointing, but from a
personal view this year probably is among the best that I have had."

Rahul scored 1067 runs this calender year, with five tons. He said the the
runs accumulated in 2011 set him up for a rugged tour.

"Runs behind you don't necessarily translate into runs in the future but
what I can definitely say is that I go there in a good space. I feel have
been hitting the ball well," he said. "I feel quit relaxed when around the
group and in the team and am comfortable with the contributions that I am
making. I think it's a good time to be travelling.

Dravid is hailed as Mr Wall and is the main architect of series wins in Pakistan,
the West Indies, England and New Zealand, but a series win in Australia has been elusive.

If India triumphs in Australia, it will be a great benchmark.

"Australia is the benchmark, definitely. They had some absolute
legends and still have some great players, and they have been the kind of
team that you set your mark against. It would definitely be special to go
and do well there."

The new look Australian side will be resurgent.

"I still think they are a good side. I know they don't have the
big names they had in the past, but they have got some emerging players,
some good young players. You can clearly see that they have got a lot of
potential and any Australian team is going to hard to beat on home soil. But
quietly, I think as a team we should be confident in our own abilities and I
really like the look of the way our pace attack is developing. Hopefully we
can stay fit and I believe we give ourselves a good chance."


Dravid said he had not set specific goals for himself for this tough tour !

"I don't have any thing in terms of my own
numbers or statistics that I want to achieve in Australia," he said. "I want
to win a Test series there try and help the team win in Australia. That is
something that we have never done. So every time you go and tour there you
want to get that goal. Its not going to be easy, it's never is, but I think
the team's goal is to try and win a series."

Dravid became the second player, after Sachin, to score more than
13 K runs, an achievement which Dravid himself considered was not
just possible when he started. .

"I wouldn't have minded scoring five hundreds or a thousand runs less if we
could win a series in Australia. I think those of are the kind of memories
that stay with you. I think the greatest memory for me now is not
necessarily statistical. It's not the number of runs, it's those magical
moments. It's winning in Kolkata and Rawalpindi. The series wins in Tests
stay with you. I think that's what you would play for at this stage."


He is hailed as the best batsman India has produced, despite being the oldest, but his penchant for fitness has paid off !

"It tells you that fitness levels have risen, and that's thanks to the
access that we have today - to physiotherapists and trainers. Sports science
has improved tremendously since the time I started and I think it means
players are fitter for longer periods of time. Especially as batsman, if you
are disciplined about things you can prolong your career for periods of
time. It's a question of getting everything right and getting the technical
side of things right. Then you have all this help to tap into in terms of
your physical fitness. If you are doing these things you can ensure that you
play for pretty long periods of time."