Virat Kohli may revel at the thought that the youngsters’ success in the absence of regulars like Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul is a “good headache to have” but head coach Rahul Dravid is bracing for some tough decisions.

The raging debate revolves around the lack of runs from Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara. Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Iyer hit a century each in the series against New Zealand which India won 1-0.

“There’s a great desire to do well and everyone’s pushing each other,” Dravid said after the match. “I hope we have more headaches to have, we may have to make some tough decisions but as long as we have clear communication and we explain to the players why, don’t see it to be a problem,” he said.

Dravid said it will be a mistake to read the Test series win as a lop-sided result in India’s favour. “It was good to finish the series as winners, came close in Kanpur, not able to get that last wicket, had to work hard here (Mumbai).

“This result seems one-sided, but right through the series, we were made to work hard. There have been phases where we were behind and had to fight back, credit to the team.”

Dravid said the players are keen to improve with every game. “Great to see the boys stepping up and taking their opportunities. Yes, we were missing a few senior players. Credit to the guys who came in, Jayant had a difficult day yesterday (Sunday), but learnt from it today.

“Mayank, Shreyas, Siraj, who don’t get a lot of opportunities... Axar, great to see his development with the bat in addition to what he can do with the ball. It gives us a lot of options as well, helps us become a stronger side.”

Dravid defended the decision not to enforce the follow-on.

“We knew we had a lot of time, didn’t think much of the follow-on, also a lot of young batters in the side, so wanted to give them a chance to bat in conditions like these.”