Dravid is one of the greats of the game, an outstanding batsman in his prime. He ended his 164-Test career with 13,288 runs, behind only Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis in the all-time list.

Though known mainly for his long-format batting, he wasn’t too bad in ODIs either, as 10,889 runs from 344 outings prove.

“There were boys who came on the ‘A’ tour with us to England, who had not played red-ball cricket for six-to-seven months! It would never have happened before. The time they get to practice red-ball cricket has altered drastically.”

With a packed calendar, teams often don’t get a chance to play even one proper first-class game before getting into a Test series when on tour. On more than one occasion, games are not XI v XI, but 14-15-16-a-side, because it’s the only chance for the visiting team players to get a hit.

“I think that needs to change. I benefitted hugely from having proper first-class games. Maybe schedules have changed and things are more complicated, but there is no doubt that a couple of first-class games before any Test tour is only going to help,” said Dravid.

“I found this 14 playing 14 started happening towards the end of my career; I did not like those games as a player.”