da bet esporte： Rahul Dravid was candid enough to admit that the closeness of the result – WestIndies won by three wickets with two balls to spare – flattered his team
da bet nacional： Anand Vasu at Ahmedabad26-Oct-2006
‘Harbhajan bowled beautifully. That was the time wecame back into the game’ © AFP
After India lost a close game to West Indies and their hopes of stayingalive in this Champions Trophy hung on a rather slender thread, RahulDravid was candid enough to admit that the closeness of the result – WestIndies won by three wickets with two balls to spare – flattered his team.”In the end it wasn’t as close as it probably looked,” he said. “I thinkwe worked hard towards the end to make it close.”They always had wickets in hand, so we had our backs to the wall. But wethought we could drag it as far as possible as they’d have to play a fewbig shots under pressure against the wet ball, and we’d they could connector not,” he said. “But the guys worked hard. I think 224, probably in thefinal analysis, was about 25-30 runs less than what we should have got. Idon’t think we are playing as well as we can play.”Dravid said that the period in middle of the Indian batting where bothYuvraj and he were dismissed in the space of a few balls, was a criticalpoint in the game. “I think in the 30-31st over when we lost two wickets,was critical,” he said. “At 130-3 with 20 overs to go we were in a verygood position. Two set batsmen, I think that over from Bradshaw whenYuvraj got out and I got run out, that’s where I feel was the turningpoint in terms of our batting.”India’s top-order has now failed consistently pretty much all season, andDravid admitted that the brittleness of the batting was a concern. “It isa concern and we need to play better. We need to get runs, especially onslow wickets, we need to adjust and adapt and play differently,” he said.”Today I thought we were getting things right but unfortunately we hadthat period of play when we lost two quick wickets. The partnershipbetween Yuvraj and I came in quick time and we were pretty much in controlof the game at that stage. It was disappointing that none of the topfour-five batsmen could go on to get a 70-80.”
Dravid’s concerns about India’s frail and failing batting continues © AFP
Dravid also said that the dew did not play as much of a role as it did theother night when South Africa played Sri Lanka. “There was a bit of dewbut not as much as apparently as the other game. I thought Viru bowledreally well,” he said. “Harbhajan bowled beautifully. That was the time wecame back into the game. They got off to a flying start which put us undera bit pressure but we came back really well through the spinners and Ithought Munaf bowled a great first spell.” The think-tank played RP Singhin place of Ramesh Powar with the dew in mind, as the spinners struggle togrip the wet ball, but that was a ploy that did not come off. “We went inwith an extra seamer but RP didn’t have a great game,” said Dravid. “Butthe support spinners did a great job.”Looking forward to the do-or-die battle against Australia in Mohali,Dravid said it was simply a matter of executing the plans they had inmind. “I think the guys know what they have to do. At the end of the dayit is about putting the runs on the board and performing,” he said. “Thereare only so many instructions we can give and so many net practices thatwe can do. In the end of the day it is about going out there andperforming and we hope we get enough players to perform in what is ado-or-die game for us.”Dravid also would not blame Ajit Agarkar for the short, wide ball thatMarlon Samuels slashed away to hit the winning runs. “I don’t think Ajitwas trying to bowl a short one, he was trying to hit the deck and tryingto bowl wicket to wicket,” he said. “It didn’t come out right from hishand. I think we could have bowled a bit fuller, as Munaf showed.”
