Vice-captain Rahul Dravid today conceded that India had been pushed on the backfoot after failing to exploit helpful conditions and said the team would have to do “much better” tomorrow to bounce back into the first cricket Test against Australia. “We definitely are on the backfoot. It was a tough day. Australians always speak about doing well on the first session and first day of the Test series and they enjoyed a huge day,” Dravid said after Australia had piled on 262 for two on a rain-truncated first day’s play. “We probably did not bowl as well as we should have. But it has been harsh really. They could have bowled in better areas. But you have got to give creidt to the Aussies. It was more of a case of they batting well than we bowling poorly,” the vice-captain said. Dravid said it was important for India to pick wickets after having asked the Aussies to bat first in overcast conditions. “Having chosen to bowl, the onus was on us. But they batted very well.. We now got to keep fighting and do better tomorrow. We expect tough days on these tours but we need to bounce back all the time.” Dravid said the conditions were favourable to the faster bowlers but his side expected the pitch to do more than it actually did. Dravid praised the Australians for their good scoring rate even on a day when conditions were difficult for batting. “It is not easy (for them to score quickly). It helps them to have a couple of attacking batsmen in Front. If you don’t bowl in the right areas and right line, they punish you,” he said. “It probably did not help the bowlers as much as we expected but still there was something in it for the bowlers. It drizzled and it rained and it was one of those on and off kind of days.” Dravid was not forthcoming on the two decisions which could have come their way had umpire Steve Bucknor been more obliging. “Langer could have been out on 20 but then one must give credit to the batsman for carrying on to his hundred. Umpires make their decision and he is in the best position to do it.”
