T20 no yardstick, says Dravid

Bangalore Royal Challengers may be struggling to find their feet in the Indian Premier League, but skipper Rahul Dravid on Wednesday said the youngsters should not get disheartened as performance in Twenty20 was not an indicator of a player's ability in longer version of the game.
"Success in T20 may not automatically translate into success in the Ranji or Tests," Dravid, whose team took on Kings XI Punjab here last night, told a pre-match press conference.
He said batsmen scoring runs in T20 cannot be rated as better batsmen because they will need to prove themselves in the longer version of the game.
"T20 is unique and lot of young Indian players are excelling in this format. Whether they can take this confidence to the next level is debatable. It's not going to be easy and the skills with which you achieve success in T20 may not help you give you success in Ranji and Tests," he said.
Asked whether the youngster playing this format are going to be good enough to perform in the longer versions, Dravid said, "It's hard to make that call and rate what is a good performance in this format." Asked how he felt playing and captaining in this format and if this was the same as leading and playing for one's country, Dravid said "nothing can be equated to playing for one's country." Dravid, however, said the pressure of winning while playing for the country and for a franchise was the same.
"Whichever team you are a part of, you want to win and want to do well," he said.