Pak ploy of targetting individuals won't work - Dravid

'Well, no. Whole team is a factor' - Rahul Dravid on asked whether Shoaib Akhtar would be a factor © Getty Images

Rahul Dravid, the Indian captain, said Pakistan's ploy of targetting individuals in his side would not work as his team no longer depended on any one player to pull off victories. Speaking in the context of India's trip to Pakistan this week for a Test and one-day series, Dravid felt it would be a fallacy if Inzamam-ul-Haq's men depended too much on Shoaib Akhtar and targetted just a couple of batsmen in the Indian team.

Dravid said as far as India were concerned, they would focus on the entire Pakistani team. "Pakistan have got some good players all round. I think if we focus on just one or two players in the team, we will be making a mistake and I think if they focus on one or two players in our team, they will be making a mistake because we have shown over the last month that a lot of our guys are performing."

"It is not just one or two players who do well. So, we are not going to focus on one or two individuals. It is going to be about the team," he said. Asked whether Akhtar would be a factor, Dravid said: "Well, no. Whole team is a factor. You can make a mistake of focusing on one or two individuals."

Akhtar reportedly said on TV that Sachin Tendulkar and Dravid were scared of his bowling. Dravid also said he did not believe in all the talk about being favourites or underdogs. "I don't believe in these, someone being favourites and someone being underdogs. Both teams start even. Whichever team plays well, wins." He said when India and Pakistan start the series, the fact that Pakistan did well against England and India against Sri Lanka would count for nothing.

"It does not matter what you have done in the past. The series starts 0-0. It's irrelevant really. You can get confidence from it [that you have done well in the recent series], and see positives. But once the match starts, it does not matter. It is really all about what you do on that particular day."

Dravid said India's last tour of Pakistan had been fantastic and the team learned that one has to play tough cricket to win in the neighbouring country. He also said the morale of the Indian team was high after some recent good performances. "Last couple of months have been really good. There have been good performances from all the players."