Dravid adds value to the team: Tendulkar

Senior Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar feels Rahul Dravid's inclusion after close to two years has added "value" to the ODI team.

Senior Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar feels Rahul Dravid8217;s inclusion after close to two years has added 8220;value8221; to the ODI team and his experience would come in handy during the tri-series in Sri Lanka and the subsequent Champions Trophy in South Africa.

8220;It should help the team. He brings in a lot of experience on the table and also a lot of skill. I think his will be good value addition to the team,8221; Tendulkar said.

Tendulkar said the team is fitter and hungrier after wrapping up a four-day training camp in Bangalore to prepare for the tri-series in Sri Lanka,where New Zealand is the third team.

8220;The camp has ended on a positive note and the team looks pretty solid and hungry. Sri Lanka is one place which is not very free scoring,8221; he said. 8220;It will be a challenge for some of the strokeplayers in our team. As boundaries can be difficult to come by,there will be a lot of running between the wickets involved,8221; he added.

Tendulkar said all the three participating teams were evenly matched and it is difficult to say which one of them would eventually win the short series.

8220;We are an extremely good fielding unit and we turned around games with our fielding. It is a misconception to assume that New Zealand and Sri Lanka have an edge over us.

8220;We run well between the wickets,our run out conversion is good,our catching ability is amongst the best,our bowlers are much more disciplined as they don8217;t bowl wides and no balls. I think we are three evenly matched teams,8221; Tendulkar said.

Story continues below this ad

Asked whether the Indians had decoded mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis,who has tormented them in the past,Tendulkar said,8221;These are the contests created by the media. Ajantha Mendis,Muthiah Muralitharan or Chaminda Vaas are all good bowlers and we as a team respect them. At the same time we have a plan for each one of them.8221;

8220;On the last trip batsmen like Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir handled Mendis and Murali really well. I think we can build on that. These youngsters bring a fresh approach and mindset which then rubs off on others which helps the team produce good results,8221; he added.