Rahul Dravid prepares to take on Sri Lanka

Rahul Dravid has become an indispensable member of the Indian team and increasingly looks certain to be the future Indian captain. He was given a taste of the captaincy in the recently concluded Coca-Cola Cup after the one-match suspension handed out to Sourav Ganguly and he made the most of the opportunity by helping India win their first game of the tournament.

He though denies having any immediate captaincy ambitions: "It was just doing the job for one game because of an unfortunate incident. Right at this moment I am happy to play under Sourav (Ganguly)."

The victory marked a turnaround in India's Coca-Cola Cup fortunes and they eventually clinched a place in the final. However, for the eighth time in succession they lost a one-day final, prompting further speculation that they lack big match temperament.

"We didn't play well on that day," he admits. "In one-day cricket you have to perform on the day, but I don't see a problem, as long as we get into finals. We are doing 90 per cent of the job right. I look at the positive side of it. Look, how many sides have got into eight finals. Okay, we have lost eight, but hopefully we do better in the ninth."

Dravid initially was labeled as a Test match specialist only, but with experience he's matured and now become a very important member of the one-day squad. In the 1999 World Cup he was India's highest run scorer after two hundreds and in the Coca-Cola Cup he was India's most consistent batsmen.

"There was a time I was labeled a Test player, I didn't change many things," he says. "I practiced hard and that was the key. I also spoke to few people and after the hard work things started improving."

Dravid was chosen to play for English county Kent in the last season and he performed exceptionally well for the county whilst Sourav Ganguly struggled in English conditions. Dravid admits that the stint with Kent helped him immensely.

"It was a good stint with Kent and I really enjoyed my six months there," he said. "It was a good chance to stay away from home and learn new things and new conditions. Playing in Kent made me a better person and a cricketer."

With the one-day tri-series finished the attention now turns to the three-match Test series that starts on Tuesday in Galle.

"If we want to beat them we got to play really well," he warns. "They are playing in familiar conditions and that makes are job that much harder. I feel that this is going to be a hard series that is closely fought."

Sri Lanka's recent Test record is poor. During the last 12 months they have lost home series against England and Pakistan and were hammered on a tour to South Africa. Meanwhile, India drew their last Test series against Zimbabwe after a famous three-match Test series against Australia

"It doesn't matter what we have achieved in the past, Sri Lanka are a competitive side at home," he says. "Whatever you say they are playing good cricket at the moment."

He admits that the absence of Sachin Tendulkar is a big loss: "Sachin (Tendulkar) is the best batsman in the world and it's obviously not easy to replace him, but that's how things are going to be. We are playing lot of cricket and people are going to get injured."

In fact, he's the only Indian batsman in the squad to have scored more than 3,000 Test runs and he has to burden greater responsibility after injuries to Tendulkar and Laxman. He is expected to move up the batting order in the Test series.

Dravid says he is looking forward to his contest against Muttiah Muralitharan, the best off-spinner in the world: " Murali (Muralitharan) is a great bowler, a truly world-class player and it's always good to play against them and do well."

He disagrees with the view that the Sri Lankan bowling depends on Muralitharan: "He's not Sri Lanka's only bowler. They've got some classy fast bowlers and we have to play well against them as well."

India have their own match winning off spinner in Harbhajan Singh and the contest between the two spinners is being keenly anticipated.

"Harbhajan is a great bowler, as he proved against the Aussies," he said. "He's still young, being only 20 years old. Murali on the other hand has been around for a while, so there's no point in comparing the two of them. Harbhajan has the potential to achieve what Murali has achieved."