Not too concerned by Rahul Dravid's failure as opener, Indian skipper Anil Kumble on Saturday defended the embattled right-hander, urging him to relax and play his natural game to mould himself in the new role.
Refusing to blame Dravid alone for the team's humiliating 337-run defeat to Australia, Kumble said the loss was a collective failure.
"He's (Rahul Dravid) too good a player to worry about his batting. He probably needs to relax a bit more, go out and enjoy his batting. I am positive that he would be able to do it," Kumble said in the post-match press conference.
"He has played over 100 Tests and scored 9000 plus runs and is too good to be intimidated. I am pretty confident that he would come out and bat the way he normally does," he added.
However, the veteran leg-spinner admitted that the batting was a huge concern as the team gears up for the second Test in Sydney, which is only 72 hours away.
"It was a real disappointment. I really thought we would be able to match their total in the first innings. Having failed there, I thought we would do well in the second. That too didn't happen," said Kumble, keeping a jaunty profile despite the shattering loss.
Kumble urged his batsmen not to put too much pressure on themselves and break the shackles by scoring quickly.
"Batters are experienced, it's just the mental make-up that we need to adjust. Run-rate is a concern. In order to win a Test you want to ensure it's healthy and a positive run-rate," he explained.
"But we also noticed that whenever we had a partnership, the scoring was at a brisk rate. Now it's a matter of going out and batting freely. It's not easy I admit as batters are a bit finicky about certain things. Bowlers get time to adjust while batters don't but it's a hurdle they need to overcome," Kumble said.
The Indian skipper also defended Yuvraj Singh, who failed to click in both the innings.
"He is just back from Bangalore where he got a big hundred. Its not that the alternatives like Virender Sehwag and Dinesh Karthik are in the greatest of nick," Kumble retorted.
"Going into the game we thought it was the best combination. Of course we would reassess the move over the next couple of days."
For the next game in Sydney, Kumble said he wants his batsmen to give the side a total of 350-400 runs.
"We have batted when people have bowled restrictive even negative lines. I am sure they can get the runs if they bat freely," Kumble said.
"We should have played our natural game which probably we didn't do here. We would discuss and ensure they are a lot more relaxed on the field," he added.
Kumble said he was hoping for a more batting friendly track in Sydney.
"Hopefully, Sydney would be a better wicket. We have strokemakers, so the ball would come on to the bat and it would help," he said.
Even in the crushing defeat here, Kumble said there were a few positives the visitors could build on.
"Before the game, not many thought we could take 20 Australian wickets. We proved them wrong and same it would be with our batting."
"We need to tackle the issue. It's not just one batter getting a century. The entire team should score 350-400 runs regularly," he said.
