The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Don't take West Indies lightly: Dravid

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Sunday, May 14, 2006

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Sport - Cricket

Don't take West Indies lightly: Dravid

Kingston (Jamaica): Shortly after setting foot on Caribbean soil, Indian captain Rahul Dravid cautioned his young guns not to make the mistake of taking the West Indies lightly, saying the opposition has the strength to topple the best in the business.

Dravid heaped praise on the quality present in the West Indies line-up as he brought over his largely young, but successful team for an arduous two-month tour of the Caribbean.

``Any team that has players of the quality of (Brian) Lara, (Ramnaresh) Sarwan, (Chris) Gayle and (Sivnarine) Chanderpaul got to be a serious batting line-up. They have some good fast bowlers too,'' Dravid said soon after the Indian team's arrival here.

Lara has played 13 Tests against India, scoring 791 runs with one century at 37.66. He has 794 runs in 31 one-day matches. Chanderpaul has the best figures of 1,280 runs against the Indians, hitting five centuries at 85.33 in 14 matches. Gayle, in eight matches, has scored 366 runs, while Sarwan has 455 runs in eight games.

Different scenario

``They are a very good team and we have been following their cricket. We expect good cricket against them,'' said Dravid, whose status in world cricket bears little resemblance to his two previous trips of West Indies in 1997 and 2002.

Dravid first came over in 1997, barely a year old in international cricket and struggled with the disappointment of being ignored in one-day cricket. In 2002, he was burdened with the additional task of wicketkeeping in one-dayers, which many believed was a show of no confidence from the then captain Sourav Ganguly.

Now he is master of all he surveys, a position he has acquired through his sheer merit and strength of character.

Dravid would have a key role in goading his young team, but he expressed confidence in their ability to come good. ``We have some exciting young talent in the one-day team who are excited about playing in the West Indies. This tour would be a good experience for them. We really want to play in front of this great crowd, in front of people who love the game and love the sport. Leading on to some of the important tournaments later on, this will give us a lot of impetus,'' Dravid said.

The Indian skipper is aware of his team's drought here since it has not won a series in the Caribbean since 1971. He, however, wasn't unduly worried.

``We are not going to worry about history. We are just going to look at this series as a fresh one and then try and do the best we can.''

India has only won three of the 38 Tests played in the Caribbean, while losing 16 and drawing 19.

Five-bowler theory

Meanwhile, coach Greg Chappell said India would persist with its new strategy of fielding five frontline bowlers in Tests. He believes the five-bowler theory is the only way his team can win more matches.

Chappell also sees a key role for his young pace battery in improving India's floundering reputation in Tests, which he says, is possible if the team ``replicates the lessons of our one-day success in Tests''.

``It's the bowlers who win Tests and we all know that. I am convinced that India needs to persist with the five-bowler theory in order to win more Tests,'' Chappell said.

He expects his young fast bowlers to step up to the task and excel in Tests as well. ``It's an opportunity for them to seize the moment and prove themselves in demanding conditions,'' he said.

The Lara factor

Chappell expects the bowlers to make light of hot and humid conditions as well as of wickets, which might not be of great assistance in terms of pace or movement. There is also this little matter of bowling to the irrepressible Brian Charles Lara.

``If they are uptight about bowling to Lara, I don't know. But individuals don't matter as long as you stick to the process. In any case I'm not too keen to dwell on the negatives at the start of the tour,'' remarked Chappell.

An elementary part of this ``process'' for Chappell is that bowlers should dry up the scoring and build up the pressure on opposite batsmen. ``It surely is important if bowlers can build pressure from both ends. It adds to a team gaining control of the situation.''

He said it was worth keeping an eye on West Indies' fast bowling resources since they had a few talented youngsters in the line-up.

``But there is no reason to believe that our batsmen wouldn't be up to the task. How well we would do, who knows.'' — PTI

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