Rahul Dravid Links India’s Test Batting Struggles to Lack of Red-Ball Preparation

Former India captain and head coach Rahul Dravid believes the increasing demands of multi-format cricket are a major factor behind India’s recent struggles with the bat in Test cricket. Dravid pointed to the lack of dedicated red-ball preparation time for players who feature across formats as a key concern.

India’s dominance at home in Test cricket has shown rare cracks in recent years. After going 12 years without a home-series defeat, they have now lost two of their last three home series — a 3-0 whitewash against New Zealand in 2024 and a 2-0 loss to South Africa in November 2025.

Speaking at the launch of The Rise of the Hitman: The Rohit Sharma Story in Bengaluru, Dravid highlighted how tightly packed schedules have reduced opportunities for Test-specific preparation.

“One of the things I understood as a coach, especially with guys who play all three formats, is that they keep moving from one format to the other,” Dravid said. “There were times when we would get to a Test match three to four days before the game, and when you looked back, some of these guys hadn’t actually hit a red ball for four or five months.”

Dravid explained that this lack of red-ball exposure makes it difficult for batters to develop the skills required for Test cricket, particularly on challenging surfaces.

“To play on turning tracks or seaming wickets for hours in a Test match is not easy,” he said. “It requires skill, and that skill needs time.”

India’s current Test captain Shubman Gill recently echoed similar concerns, stating that players were not being given adequate preparation time ahead of Test series and urging the BCCI to take this into account while planning schedules.

Reflecting on his own playing days, Dravid contrasted the current environment with an era when players had significantly more time to focus on red-ball cricket.

“In my generation, when there were only two formats and no franchise cricket, I would sometimes have a whole month to practise for a Test series,” he said. “Now, many players who play all three formats simply don’t have the time to practise red-ball cricket as much.”

Dravid cited Gill as a recent example of a player experiencing these challenges firsthand, having played across formats in quick succession.

India’s struggles in Tests stand in contrast to their dominance in T20 cricket. The team is currently 3-0 up in a five-match T20I series against New Zealand and head into the upcoming T20 World Cup as favourites to defend their title.

According to Dravid, the success in white-ball cricket is a direct result of the volume of short-format practice players receive.

“You look at the way people are hitting today in white-ball cricket — it’s because they are able to practise it a lot more,” he said. “A lot of these boys spend two-and-a-half months in the IPL, practising how many sixes they can hit. Naturally, they get much better at it.”

In contrast, India currently sit sixth in the World Test Championship standings and face an uphill task if they are to qualify for the 2027 final. Dravid also attributed some of the batting struggles to the increasing emphasis on result-oriented pitches in the WTC era.

“The pressure on home teams to win every Test has increased because of the World Test Championship,” he said. “That’s why you are seeing wickets that favour bowlers a bit too much — not just in India, but everywhere.”

While Dravid acknowledged that teams do not intentionally seek extreme conditions, he admitted that the pressure of WTC points has influenced pitch preparation.

“Results are important, especially in home games,” he said. “And that pressure has, at times, made teams ask for result-oriented wickets.”

As India navigate an increasingly crowded international calendar, Dravid’s comments underline a growing debate around balancing formats — and whether Test cricket’s technical demands are being squeezed by the modern game’s relentless pace.