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India should never take home series wins for granted despite their stellar record, says head coach Rahul Dravid.
India last lost a home series in 2012 and have now won 17 in a row in the country, losing just four Tests.
“Defeats in India have been rare and I’d like to acknowledge and credit the players, because it’s not easy,” said former batter Dravid.
“Sometimes we just take it for granted.”
Dravid said maintaining India’s “dominance” at home is “especially heartening” given how much exposure foreign players have had to conditions during the Indian Premier League since it started in 2008.
“A lot of foreign players spend a lot of time in this country,” he said. “I know it is a different format but it is about familiarity, it is about getting used to these conditions, it’s about knowing the country.
“We don’t get those opportunities, our young players don’t spend two months in Australia before they go there.
“The fact we’ve been able to maintain that record and the standard is a real tribute to the players and the way they’ve performed.
“We need to also recognise the quality people are putting in and the hard work to maintain these standards when it is getting tougher and tougher to be able to do that.”
India outplayed England throughout the series despite star batter Virat Kohli, wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant and bowler Mohammed Shami all being absent throughout.
Middle-order batter KL Rahul also missed the last four games with a quadriceps injury, while spinning-all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja missed the second Test with a hamstring injury and pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah was rested for the fourth match.
That has meant debuts for batters Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Devdutt Padikkal, wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel and bowler Akash Deep across the five matches.
The average age of those five players is just under 26 and they joined the 22-year-old opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who had only played eight Tests, and 24-year-old Shubman Gill in a youthful and inexperienced batting line-up.
Jaiswal scored 260 more runs than anyone else in the series, while Gill, who came into the series under pressure for his place, was the second-highest run-scorer.
“It’s just nice to see the confidence of the young India players,” said Dravid.
“The amount of exposure these young boys have by the time they’re 22-23 certainly does help.
“It’s very hard to get into an Indian team. You have to really earn it, there’s a lot of competition.
“If you get into the 15 then you’ve earned the right and you deserve to be there.
“You’ll not be treated differently, whether you’re playing your first match or your 100th game.”
By Callum Matthews
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