Nagpur: Rahul Dravid doesn’t want to read too much into Irfan Pathan’s 83 on Tuesday and feels he is more of a bowler who can bat. He still has a long way to go to prove that he is an allrounder.

“Irfan is a bowler who can bat. He made a good 83 today but I don’t think people should be jumping around and calling him an allrounder. I don’t think he thinks of himself as an allrounder,” Dravid said on Tuesday.

“Irfan is just 21. He still has a long way to go. Who knows where he will end up by the time he is 27-28, if he continues like this? But at the moment, he is a bowler who can bat a bit and let’s not get carried away.”

On the thinking behind his promotion to No. 3, the captain added: “We just thought we would try and utilise the early overs. We thought that once this ball became old and soft, it won’t be that easy to play shots. Irfan is a good batsman, he has shown that he can play sensibly, not just swing wildly.

“We wanted some of the middle order guys to take a fresh look at their spinners. We also thought it would be good to give something different for the Sri Lankans to think about.”

Dravid was effusive in his praise of Sachin Tendulkar. “It’s not easy to come back after six months. Physically also, it’s tough for you. He played a great knock for the team, batted for a long period of time. It’s just great to have him around, not just because of his batting but for his presence on and off the field.”

The Team India captain knows that winning is the key. “When you go out there and everything clicks, you look a great unit. When you score 350 and knock the opposition over, you are going to look a good unit. When you are having great success, it is not difficult to look like a good unit. Winning is the key.”