The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : India needs a good third day: Chappell

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Monday, Jun 05, 2006

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India needs a good third day: Chappell

Special Correspondent

The Aussie believes the break will do Irfan Pathan good

St. John's: Indian coach Greg Chappell said opting to bat in the first Test here at the Antigua Recreation Ground may not have been the best thing when viewed in hindsight, but that it was important that India did it to try and gain control. He said his side needed a good third day for ``there still was a Test match to win.''

On India's batsmen getting starts on the first day and not converting, Chappell said, ``It wasn't an easy wicket, and not many batsmen threw their wickets away. We didn't bat badly in the circumstances — 300 was a more likely score under the conditions. But, we can't have that happening twice in the same match.''

The Aussie emphasised the importance of batting well in the second knock though he added, ``what (total) is required is anyone's guess.'' He said the wicket was ``still going to do something with the new ball, if you put it in the right areas.''

Analysing the performance of India's young pace attack, Chappell said, ``I don't think the bowlers consistently bowled the right lengths. It's obviously something we've talked about. But, we've got a guy playing in his first Test, and you can't expect to put old heads on young shoulders.

``It's something that comes from experience. The only way to know is to do it out there in the middle, bowl the lengths and suffer at the hands of batsmen and learn.''

He praised Dwayne Bravo's 92-ball 68. ``He was aggressive. It was just the sort of innings they needed at that time.''

On the decision to leave out Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan, the coach said, ``we couldn't afford to play Harbhajan under the conditions. We wanted to play three seamers. We knew Viru (Sehwag) could do a job if required.

``Pathan is quite happy and understands why he is not playing and appreciates the decision. Probably the break will do him good.It wouldn't have been good for him to come on, bowl badly, and suffer a dent in confidence. It's important he regroups and comes back as I'm sure he will. We would play him in the series at some stage or another, but under the conditions we thought other options were better.''

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