We will bounce back strongly: Dravid

Rahul Dravid sounded confident of his team Royal Challengers of Bangalore bouncing back from the mauling they received on Friday in the IPL lung-opener against Sourav Ganguly-led Kolkata Knight Riders.

"We will come back strongly. There are 13 more (league) matches to be played," the former India skipper said ahead of Sunday night's battle here against Mumbai Indians, led by Sachin Tendulkar.

Bangalore lost by 140 runs to Kolkata and their bowlers were hammered to all corners of the field by New Zealand's wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum who registered the highest-ever T20 score when making an unbeaten 158.

Dravid said his team had some injury worries, especially the groin strain suffered by fast bowler Ashley Noffke, while seeing the positive side with the availability of West Indian veteran batsman and ex-skipper Shivnarine Chanderpaul for the tie.

"Shiv would strengthen the team. We have some injury concerns. We would take a call on Noffke's groin injury tomorrow," he said.

Dravid, asked about their rivals for Sunday's match, said he was not concerned about individuals.

"They are a strong side".

Bangalore team's coach Venkatesh Prasad hoped his team members would be more consistent than what they displayed on Friday at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

I never had an ambition to do it, because I never believed:

At the time, all Rahul Dravid dreamt of was to play for India and he admitted that by joining the elite club he had, in some way, exceeded his own expectations. "I can see that picture in my mind, watching it on television - Gavaskar late-cutting in Ahmedabad and raising his bat for his 10,000. I never had an ambition to do it, because I never believed.

"As a young kid, to be honest, I didn't have the self-belief I could do it. When I look back, I probably I exceeded my expectations with what I have done over the last 10-12 years. I can look back and reflect that I maximized my potential over these years."

"I pretty much coasted for the last five-six years through my career," he said. "I had to work pretty hard from 9000 to 10,000. In some ways, it was a sign for me to learn to enjoy these things, learn to reflect on these moments. The last 1000 has been a learning curve for me.

"It has been a tough year in some ways. I have been playing well in patches. I have been fighting through it. I felt at phases it was coming back and probably just breaking my finger in the last game in Adelaide [gave me a break]. I was completely off for six weeks. I picked up the bat two or three days before the Deodhar Trophy game. I got a couple of good scores - a hundred and a fifty. I came into this Test feeling really good."

This hundred won't be remembered for its fluency, neither was it made in demanding conditions. In fact he took just six balls less to reach his hundred than Virender Sehwag had done to get three times as much. He wasn't in too much trouble but he did get into phases where he was bogged down.

Where would he place this innings among the 25 he's made? "I place the ones higher when I end up winning those games. Even the 90 at Perth is a lot more significant for me than some hundreds I have got. The South Africans bowled well today - tighter lines and they also got the ball to reverse-swing. I think I just felt happy I was solid and in control right through the innings."

He maintained the one-day milestone was special but was clear about valuing his Test runs more.

"Test cricket is much tougher in the end. You look back on that and you recognize they are the toughest ones to get. You will always cherish you Test performances a bit more than the one-day ones. You know the 10,000 you got in Test cricket has probably been a bit tougher."

10000 mark-- Keep going!!

It was a cheerful day for me (and all the fans) because our hero has achieved it!
10000 runs in Tests! What a knock to cross the 10k mark.It was a typical Dravid innings with an array of beautiful, technically perfect strokes.He played the cover drives, straight drives, flick, glance and gave a treat to the viewers.He started quite slowly (hence being criticized) but he played for his team.He played his role of sticking to the wicket perfectly.While Sehwag was going on rampage, Dravid decided to offer a strike to him.He said after the day's play that he has always preferred to build partnerships over individual score.
He reached his fifty with a superb straight drive.Then he kept on taking ones and twos and exposing the South African bowling to Sehwag.
After the wicket of Sehwag, it was only Rahul Dravid (and VVS Laxman) who played with confidence.Dravid assured that his team remains in safe position.
It was a treat to watch him play after a break of 2 months.
This run machine will never stop!