The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Train youngsters to handle pressure: Dravid

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Wednesday, Mar 21, 2007
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Train youngsters to handle pressure: Dravid

Special Correspondent

Port of Spain: Rahul Dravid spoke on Monday of the need to train young and upcoming cricketers to handle pressure.

He was answering a question on the demands of the modern game in the light of recent events including the death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer and the burning of Indian cricketers' effigies.

"There has been a huge explosion in the media, there's a lot of competition for eyeballs, and it's a trend that will likely get worse," said Dravid.

"It's not for me to say if it's right or wrong. It's for the people in charge to make those decisions.

"But, personally, I think the trend will continue. We'll have to start training our cricketers at a younger age to cope with a certain amount of pressure."

On whether the burning of effigies affected the team, Dravid said, tongue-in-cheek, "I think we're quite used to it, it's happened a lot," before adding, "we're not going to lose any sleep over it. If there's anything we are concerned about, it's the safety of our families. A lot of us have left behind young families and parents."

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