Sydney, Jan 5: Chasing a mammoth 466 runs, India lost two early wickets in what promises to be a challenging second innings. Rahul Dravid, who returned to the pavilion for 29 after being bowled by Ben Hilfenhaus, spoke to the TV broadcasters at stumps on Day 3 at the SCG.

Excerpts from the brief interview:

On the way ahead for India

A lot of work to do, obviously. We’ve really got our backs to the wall here but we [have] got to fight. [We still have a] long way to go [so] there is no point thinking about what’s happened so far. [We have] got to fight it out tomorrow. Let’s see what happens; [there is] still a lot of batting to come. [But we are] disappointed to lose a couple of wickets early.

On getting out for 29 after doing all the hard work

It is disappointing but it was a good ball as well. They bowled pretty well this series so you’ve got to give them credit as well. But yes, I feel good. I feel like I’m batting well but I just seem to be getting out so it’s a bit disappointing that I have not been able to convert some of these starts into [big] scores. Hopefully with a couple of Test matches to go it will come.

On whether he was concerned about getting out bowled in this series

Not really. I don’t think I’m doing anything particularly wrong there. It happens sometimes [that] you have a [spate of] run of outs and it happens to be similar [here]. [I have been] getting good balls as well so you’ve got to accept that.

On the wicket

It is still a good wicket. It has slowed down a bit as the game has gone on. They have bowled well. It is important for us to keep them on their feet for a long period of time. It would be interesting to see if we can keep them on the field for 100-110 overs; then we will see how they go. But we have got to hang on till then. And to be fair, they bowled well and we haven’t been able to make them stay on the field for a long time like they made us stay today.