— Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

IN CONTROL: Greg Chappell says he is not worried about Irfan Pathan's slump.

New Delhi: Irfan Pathan's recent poor form is not a big concern for Team India coach Greg Chappell, who feels that his ``strike bowler and shock batsman'' is just a bit tired after going over-board in his efforts to improve himself.

``I'm not overly concerned, to be honest. Being a young man, he's striving to improve himself all the time. I would say at times he has worked too hard. We've tried to hold back the reins and get him to understand that rest days are as important to his development as a cricketer as training days,'' Chappell told Cricinfo in an interview.

The Team India coach said expectations from the youngster have been way too high, especially after his batting exploits, which has put immense pressure on him.

``He's a 21-year-old who has been asked to do a lot in the last twelve months. We've used him as a strike bowler, we've used him as a shock batsman. We were asking a lot of him and it was going to impact on him, and I think that happened in the West Indies,'' Chappell added, referring to Irafan's below par show in the recently concluded Caribbean tour.

Important member

``He's a very important member of the one-day team and even the Test team for that matter, because of the balance of the side. No one goes through an international career without ups and downs and he has already had a bit of both. He'll learn from both,'' the coach emphasised.

``He's had a huge surge in progress in the last 12 months, and now this was a setback, but that's all it was,'' he added.

Chappell said he now makes sure that even the other members, in their enthusiasm, don't over-burden themselves.

The Australian said developing fast bowlers was a tough task and the available talent should be utilised judiciously to prevent burning them out.

``Developing players, especially bowlers, take time. Here we're trying to short-circuit what is a long development process. That's fraught with danger. We can break players if we're not careful. That's why we have had to pull players out at various stages. With Sreesanth we have had to ease up from time to time. We will do that with others when the time comes,'' the coach said.

Tendulkar may open

Speaking about next month's tri-series against Sri Lanka and South Africa, Chappell revealed that Sachin Tendulkar might open in the tournament but that would depend on the needs of the team and if the requirements of the squad ask for a different role for him, the changes would be made accordingly.

The Team India coach was not particularly happy with the questions being raised over Dinesh Mongia's selection for the series and said the left-hander was picked because he fitted in the side's scheme of things.

``He's an experienced player and has had some opportunities. Just looking at the balance of the team and the conditions in Sri Lanka we thought he was a player who had something to offer nothing more, nothing less,'' he said.

Open mind

Asserting that team selection is done with an open mind, the coach said door was still open for players like veteran Anil Kumble and medium-pacer Zaheer Khan. Chappell said if any player suited Team India's demands, he would certainly get a serious consideration from the selectors.

``You look at anyone that can offer something to the team. The minute you close your eyes or shut the door on someone you can make a mistake. We have to be open-minded and use all of the resources that we've got. I suppose the message from Mongia's selection is that no-one is totally out of it and no-one's totally in,'' Chappell said when asked about Zaheer's future prospects. — UNI

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