Rahul Dravid, on Friday, refused to join the debate on whether the current India team were the best travelling side and said it was far more important to find out what the Indians learned during their tour of England recently.

India coach Ravi Shastri claimed during the England tour that they were the best travelling side in the last 15-20 years. His remarks, especially in the light of India’s 1-4 defeat in the series, kicked off a controversy with several former players not agreeing with the coach’s views.

Dravid, who spoke to the media during a promotional in the capital, felt Shastri’s comments were perhaps blown out of proportion.

“I think the whole thing was a little bit blown out of proportion,” said Dravid. “I am not really interested in commenting on what Mr Shastri feels or he doesn’t feel. For me the main thing is what have we learnt from this series.

“It is important to know what are the lessons that we need to take forward next time we go there… It doesn’t matter whether we are the best or not. These are irrelevant things for me,” he said.

“India surely had their moments. They played some very good cricket in difficult conditions, especially for the batsmen. They were competitive for most part of the series but I am sure the team looks at it as an opportunity missed. They would feel, having played so well in certain parts of Test matches, they were not able to finish off games.

“Still there are some positives to take from the series. Our bowling and fielding, especially catching, went on very good, but like I said, the team would feel it had its chances and unfortunately it did not work out,” Dravid said.

Shastri was quoted as saying in England that going by the statistics India had done very well abroad. “If you look at the last three years, we have won nine matches overseas and three series. I can’t see any other Indian team in the last 15-20 years that has had the same run in such a short time and you had some great players playing in those series,” Shastri had said.

The comments did not go down well with some former India captains, including Sunil Gavaskar and Sourav Ganguly.

Dravid, on his part, was also quick to point out that batting was not the easiest thing in the series for both the teams. He stressed that rarely in a series one could see batsmen finding conditions difficult in all five Tests.

“The conditions in England were not easy for batting. I think batsmen of both teams struggled. If you take out Virat Kohli from the equation, it was not an easy series for the batsmen. I have played in England quite a bit, the conditions can be tough but it is rare to find five Test matches which had conditions as tough as the one they found.

“As I said, we need to look ahead. The next time we go there, we have to be better prepared for these kinds of conditions and try and replicate conditions as best as we possibly we can. It was tough out there. Let us face it,” said Dravid.

The former India captain, however, said the loss in England was an opportunity lost. “There could be a sense of disappointment. A tour of England happens once in three or four years. Some players or support staff may feel we had lost a chance,” added Dravid.

Commenting on the ongoing Asia Cup, Dravid was highly hopeful of India’s triumph, but cautioned that Pakistan were not the only potential rivals in the tournament.