Dravid relieved with draw

With only one wicket needed to guarantee defeat, Rahul Dravid was a relieved man today after the conditions took control to ensure the draw at Lord’s.

“We just got out of jail here,” said the Indian captain.

“There were some good efforts by the boys, but truly we were saved by the weather. England were on the front foot. We didn’t start well, and they had us on the run for most of the game.

“We fought back well, and at various stages our seamers brought us back in, but we were lucky to get away in the end.

Dravid emphasised the need for his side to improve in the remaining two matches, if they want to have a chance at winning the series.

“We need to correct that in the next two games. Our batsmen have to get the runs so that our bowlers can get the 20 wickets. We’ll look at what we’ve done in this game, have a couple of days of good nets and see how we do. I’d hope that we can keep improving from here. We have to utilise the lessons from this game,” he said.

England captain Michael Vaughan took a pragmatic outlook at the result and would not criticise the umpires for their decision to offer the Indian batsmen the light.

“There were no complaints from me. If I had been on the batting side I would have wanted to go off because it was pretty dark,” he said after the match.

Vaughan is now looking forward to the next match in the series against India, in Nottingham starting on Saturday.

“You have to wipe the slate clean. It has been a tough week for the players but we are looking forward to the next game, it’s a great challenge playing against these Indians,” Vaughan told the BBC.