The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Every series is equally important: Chappell

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 06, 2006

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Sport - Cricket

Every series is equally important: Chappell

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: "To have as many opportunities as possible and to make things as difficult for the opposition as possible" will be coach Greg Chappell's goal, in a nutshell, ahead of the Indian cricket team's 45-day tour of Pakistan.

Addressing a press conference in the company of skipper Rahul Dravid, Chappell tried to underplay the pressure attached to the series by saying "every series is equally important," but was quick to declare it as the "marquee series of the sub continent and more number of people follow it with enthusiasm and excitement and that makes it the biggest."

`Start is important'

In response to a question whether he was particularly worried about the form of the Indian openers, Chappell agreed and said, "start is important but it does not always happen that way. If we do well at the start, it's going to be easy. In recent matches, the lower order has helped us built good totals. But in the next few days, we'll be taking a decision as to which two openers play in the first Test."

Continuing the tone of guarded optimism, the 57-year-old Australian pointed out the team had prepared well for the series and reinforced the belief that he would continue with his efforts to surprise the opposition.

"I would not call them experiments. What we are trying is to build flexibility to cover all eventualities," said Chappell, who chose to express his happiness over the return of Zaheer Khan to the team.

Dravid spoke of the challenges ahead after starting in a jocular vein by stating, "I think the toughest challenge is probably to sing my baby to sleep."

Looking ahead to the "exciting challenge" in Pakistan, Dravid said, "Every series is a challenge. It doesn't matter who the favourite is. We want to enjoy our cricket and give our best every time. As a professional sportsman you know what you do that day is what matters."

He also spoke about how he had taken a step at a time in his career. "I didn't think I would captain India when I made the team in 1996. I only thought of establishing myself as a batsman and play an important role in the team's fortunes. The time has now come to take more responsibility."

After nearly a three-hour delay, the team left for Lahore on Thursday evening. The tour begins with a three-day warm-up game on January 7 before the first Test on January 13.

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