Opportunity for redemption: Dravid

With the World Cup humiliation still fresh in their minds, captain Rahul Dravid today cautioned his teammates not to take the 8220;much-improved8221; Bangladesh lightly in the one-day cricket series beginning on Thursday.

With the World Cup humiliation still fresh in their minds, captain Rahul Dravid today cautioned his teammates not to take the 8220;much-improved8221; Bangladesh lightly in the one-day cricket series beginning on Thursday.

Dravid said India were determined to play some tough cricket and not allow their rivals to repeat their World Cup feat. 8220;We expect to do well here. They Bangladesh played really well against us in Trinidad. We have come here to play some tough cricket. We will show that we can play really well,8221; Dravid told

reporters after team8217;s practice session at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium here.

8220;Bangladesh have improved a lot. There are no doubts about that. They are playing very good cricket. We expect a stiffer challenge than what we got on our last visit here. And we are aware of it,8221; he said. Dravid said his side was eyeing both the one-day and Test series victories.

8220;The idea is to win both the Tests and one-day series,8221; he said.

On how he rated the present assignment, Dravid said: 8220;Any assignment is as difficult or easy as it is made out to be. I don8217;t say whether some are more difficult and some are less. Each of them have their own challenges. 8220;It8217;s a good opportunity for us to play well after a disappointing World Cup,8221; he added.

Dravid said he had only a quick look at the pitch in the afternoon and it looked to be fast. 8220;I will take another look tomorrow. But it looks fast with lot of grass on it. I have never had an issue with wickets. It will be the same for both sides. We get to play in different conditions on different types of wickets. That8217;s the challenge of international cricket,8221; he said.

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On chances of the rookies making it to the final XI, Dravid said 8220;Everyone who is in the team has a realistic chance. W are going according to the conditions and the quality of the opposition. We are very clear about that. We will try to put the best team on the field to win.8221; Local journalists showed keen interest in getting to know the cricketing backgrounds of Manoj Tiwary and Piyush Chawla. Dravid gave them the details about the youngsters8217; recent showings in the domestic cicuit and termed them as exciting new talents.

8220;There are a few others also in the side who are exciting talents. It seems they have a long term future,8221; he said. Dravid said Chawla, who had captained India in the Under-19 World Cup, was being groomed for some time. 8220;This tour is part of the long process. It8217;s part of their learning experience.8221;