'NZ Mostly Knock Us Out Of ICC Events': Dravid Reacts After Black Caps' Win Helps India Seal WTC Final Berth

Rahul Dravid was thankful for the support from New Zealand.

While India would have ideally wanted a win in the final Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad which would have also helped them seal a place in the World Test Championship (WTC) final, the fourth Test match seemed to be heading towards a draw much before the two captains agreed to shake hands on the fifth day.

The result implied that though Team India won the series 2-1, they needed to depend on the result of the New Zealand-Sri Lanka Tests for them to proceed to the WTC finale. And with New Zealand's thrilling win over Sri Lanka in the first Test match, yet another India-Australia face-off was confirmed, this time at the Oval in London in the summit clash of the 2021-23 cycle of WTC.

We were eagerly watching, hoping Sri Lanka doesn't win: Dravid

Post New Zealand's win, Team India head coach Rahul Dravid said that the squad was happy with the support that they got from the Kiwis since it is often that team very team which knocks them out of ICC events.

"We try to produce result in all the Test we play. We wanted to keep the WTC qualification in our hand and we were aware that we had to win three matches in the series to make the series between Sri Lanka and New Zealand inconsequential," he said on Star Sports.

"The first day we saw the wicket in Ahmedabad, we instantly knew winning the toss would be crucial. Then the way Australia batted in the first two days, forced us to depend on the outcome between Sri Lanka and New Zealand,” he added.

"We were eagerly watching, hoping Sri Lanka doesn't win. The World Test Championship is a two-year long event, all the teams play six Test series each, so it's natural you'll be dependent on others. Although you have to put in your best but in competitions such as this you are also dependent on others.

“The good thing is that New Zealand, who mostly knock us out of ICC tournaments, gave us little support. We are thankful to them,” he said.

India's next international assignment would be the ODI series at home against the Aussies after which the players will join their respective franchises for the Indian Premier League (IPL). The WTC final is scheduled at the Oval starting on June 7.