London, Aug 18: Rahul Dravid was the captain of the Indian side that beat England 1-0 in a three-Test series in 2007. While speaking to the media ahead of the last Test of the four-match series currently being played in England, the former skipper said that India would fight to get back to the No. 1 spot .

"We have to win it. That is the objective. We are not the No. 1 anymore. The goal for us is to fight our way back there. It is about restoring some pride and showing what we can do. But if we want to climb back to No. 1 Test spot, then every Test matters," he said.

Reflecting upon the series so far, Dravid said, "It has been a tough series for a combination of reasons. The pitches here have been conducive to good seam bowling and the quality of English bowling. All the three pacers have bowled exceptionally well. They bowled beautiful lengths and pitched the ball up."

When asked whether England took India by surprise, Dravid remarked, "We expected them to be good, but we expected us to be better. To be honest, we haven't been good enough."

Have England not allowed the visitors to play their top game? "In some ways it is true. They have bowled really well and they are a good side. They have young skilled bowlers in these conditions. They too have to win in places where they have not won before. They have not won in India in the last 25 years. They have to come and do it. They have the skills and I have no doubt that they have the team to do it as well. But still it has to be done and I hope we can stop them for doing it."

Speaking about the Edgbaston Test, where TV replays indicated his bat only kissed his shoelaces rather than the fateful ball, Dravid said, "I wish I had gone for a review. Unfortunately what happened was that I played the ball and my first instinct was that I didn't hit but there was a loud noise. I could not figure out where the noise came from. And I knew I haven't hit the ground, pad or the shoe. So from where could the sound [have] come? It confused me totally. I was also confident that I [hadn’t] hit the ball so I walked down to my partner at the other end and he told me 'Rahul there was big noise' and Simon Taufel is a very good umpire. And when the world's best umpire gives you out, when your partner says there was a noise and when you hear a noise, I felt maybe it was one of those instances. It was a freaky thing. Only when I saw the TV replays did I think I could have asked for a review."

Had he asked for the review, Dravid, in partnership with Sachin Tendulkar, might just have put up a match-saving stand.

"We were having a very crucial partnership. Had we seen off the [James] Anderson spell till lunch, who knows? It would have been very different. At least we would have put up a better fight," he added.

Speaking about his ability to bat for long hours, ‘The Wall’ revealed, "Early on in my career I used to blank out thoughts. But I found out it was too draining. It was tough on me mentally. Now when my mind wanders off after playing a ball, I take two deep breaths and it helps me to get connected back in my own space. Then I take my stance and the key word for me is to watch the ball.”