The Hindu : Sport : Pathan struggling for confidence, says Chappell

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 01, 2006

Sport

Sport

Pathan struggling for confidence, says Chappell

Special Correspondent

St. John's: Indian coach Greg Chappell spoke to newsmen after day one of India's practice match here on a range of subjects spanning Irfan Pathan's bowling form, Dr. Rudy Webster, India's fielding woes, and the ever popular five-bowler theory.

Excerpts:

On Irfan Pathan: He's struggling for confidence. But, he's an experienced player and we are hopeful he will turn it around. He's probably trying too hard, which is always a bit of a problem. He just needs to go back to what he was doing when he was bowling better. It's more of a confidence thing, and the slowness of these wickets doesn't allow a big margin of error.

On the one-day series loss: Disappointing. We came here with a reputation and failed to adapt quickly enough. Maybe it's a good thing. All of this will help us build a team for the future, re-address a few issues, look at our combinations. We've had a bit of a wake-up call, and we know what we have to work on.

On the five-bowler theory: Nothing is set in stone. But to be a good side abroad that's the way we'd like to go.

On the day's play: For a practice match, it was good. There were a few things we set out to do, and we achieved a lot of them. Our bowlers hit the right lengths at some stage. Irfan was the only exception. We weren't consistent enough with our lengths in the one-day series; today we were much more consistent. The bowlers got something to move forward.

On fresh players joining the Test team: It's always nice to get a bit of freshness. But, it won't make a scrap of difference if we don't play well.

On his chat with Munaf Patel at the boundary rope: It was to get his feedback on the lengths he was bowling, and his thoughts on it. We don't get that opportunity in a Test, but here we could.

On the schedule of the practice match: It's the best that is available. Two days of this is better than two days of net practice.

On whether Agarkar will be missed: We'll never find out, he's not here. He was our best bowler with Harbhajan in the one-day series, but we'll never find out.

On batting in Tests: Partnerships are what it's about. We have to play as positively as the conditions allow. We need to play well — collectively.

On the decline in fielding: We've fielded badly. The intensity was missing, the agility was missing. We need to keep doing the work we have been doing. We've been trying to develop other parts, but mid way through the one-dayers, the coaching staff sat down and decided we need to do more of the work. We can't assume they will continue to field well.

On Dr. Rudy Webster: He's one of the two best psychologists I've worked with. He has terrific knowledge on West Indian conditions as well. He was just too good a resource to pass up on. We decided to expose him to the boys, and expose the boys to him. He's had one-on-one sessions with the boys. Sometimes, it's just a different perspective that does the trick. Viru (Sehwag), for one, had a session with him on Saturday, and the signs were there that something clicked.

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