The Hindu : Sport : Sourav is a leader: Greg Chappell

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005

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Sourav is a leader: Greg Chappell

Special Correspondent

DAMBULLA: Indian coach Greg Chappell said the IndianOil tri-series presents Sourav Ganguly an opportunity to focus on his batting without worrying about the cares of captaincy.

"He's a leader in the group whether he is captain or not as he is one of the senior players in the team. We'll be relying a lot on him for his leadership and his batting. He should use this chance to get people to talk positively about his cricket rather than be on the receiving end of negative comments that we've heard for a while," said the coach on the Bengal left-hander on Tuesday.

Longer run

Asked whether a proven player at this level would be given a longer run than a newcomer, the Australian said, "It all depends on the situation at that particular point of time.

Obviously, some players have earned the right to receive more opportunities than others with their performances over the years. But some times, it's necessary to get a senior player out of the pressure cooker situation so as to allow him to go back to nets and gain some confidence."

Chappell was pleased with India's improvement in the bowling department, as was seen in the first two ODIs.

"We've concentrated on this aspect. Ian Frazer, a sports scientist who has specialised in the field of integrated sports medicine, has helped the bowlers with different drills to improve in areas where they were weak," said the coach.

"Frazer has good ideas and knowledge in the areas of stimulating the nervous system to get the response and results. That's been his area of concentration and, moreover, he has played first class cricket and so understands the requirements at this level," he added.

On Kumble

About Anil Kumble not getting an opportunity, the Indian coach said, "As far as we're concerned, all the 16 players are interchangeable. The conditions in the first two matches needed us to go in with three pace bowlers. But the pitch is getting slower now. We hope that all the players here get at least a chance before the end of this series," he said.

"This is the start of a long campaign. We've got 10 months of cricket left. We need to have a complete match-fit squad. In case of any injuries or loss of form, we have got players who can be switched in and switched out as per the team's requirements. It has always been our intention to give these players as much cricket as possible, keeping in mind that we've to win matches too," Chappell concluded.

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