Uthappa impresses Dravid

Robin Uthappa and Ramesh Powar embrace after victory

Rahul Dravid says he hopes India have unearthed another batting gem in Oval ‘finisher’ Robin Uthappa.

India sneaked home with two balls and two wickets to spare after a titanic battle with England in the sixth NatWest Series match on Wednesday.

The thrilling contest would have gone England’s way along with the series had it not been for 21-year-old Uthappa’s ultra-cool 47 not out from just 33 balls, including successive fours off Stuart Broad to level the score at 3-3.

Dravid and co are targeting a famous win in the decider at Lord’s on Saturday, to cap a notable comeback from 3-1 down.

Sachin Tendulkar (94) and several others played significant parts in India’s victory. But Uthappa’s contribution - when it seemed the hosts would prevail after all - was especially impressive, to his captain among thousands of others.

“I’d never seen him bat at seven,” Dravid said of an inventive young player, more used to coming at number three or four.

“But he’s always had the power and a good cricketing brain. We saw a little taster of what we may see in the future, looking at the way he played.”

Uthappa has had to wait for his chance, on the periphery of India’s powerhouse batting resources. But Dravid was well aware of his potential - and Uthappa’s success in his 13th one-day international came as no surprise.

“What’s happened over the last year and a half is that he has been with the team a lot - and he’s developing his cricket all the time,” said Dravid.

“He’s working really hard in the nets - and watching him batting in the nets, to me, he was crying out to be picked.

“Great credit to him. He has never batted at seven in his life, and the way he managed and controlled the chase was fantastic.”

Uthappa’s emergence is of particular note amid reports that all-time great Tendulkar is considering ending his limited-overs career in the near future - although those accounts are dismissed as “totally false” by Dravid.

Rahul Dravid knew the game would be close on Wednesday

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The India captain admitted to more pressing concerns for a time on Wednesday night when - even after a flying start from Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly - his team were beginning to falter, in pursuit of such a big total.

He said: “We were definitely worried at one stage - when we had lost a few wickets in the middle. But that can happen, chasing 300. Coming in for new batsmen on a slow wicket, it’s never easy.

“We knew it probably wouldn’t be all plain sailing right through - but maybe towards the end it was a bit too tense.”

Uthappa ensured India still have a chance of a clean sweep this summer - having beaten England in the Test series and South Africa in the Future Cup in Northern Ireland before that - and Dravid is looking forward to this weekend’s showdown at HQ.

He said: “It should be a cracker of a game at Lord’s on Saturday. Momentum, as I’ve said before, really doesn’t make much of a difference in a one-day game.

“Everyone was saying we had the momentum going into The Oval game - and they went out and got 320 runs. We didn’t have the momentum then.”

Tendulkar, who was limping badly because of cramp in the overs before he was out on Wednesday, is expected to be fit again by Saturday.

Dravid said: “He’s fine. It’s just cramp. He’s taken some rehydration fluids and should be okay.”