The Hindu : Sport : Dravid happy with the combination

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Monday, Oct 09, 2006
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Dravid happy with the combination

Special Correspondent

Photo: S. Subramanium

IN RIGHT EARNEST: Rahul Dravid interacting with the media, was emphatic about the need to keep improving.

NEW DELHI: Coach Greg Chappell is set to continue with his experiments to make the players as flexible as possible and prepare them for different challenges beyond the Champions Trophy leading up to the next year's World Cup.

Captain Rahul Dravid has no doubt over the capabilities of the team to emerge as the strongest but would first like to get the team's winning momentum back.

Sachin Tendulkar feels as the host, India knows the conditions better than any other contender in the competition and the crowd support should greatly help the team's cause.

On Sunday, this three-pronged "thinking" group of the squad took turns to drive home the point, through the media, that the team was raring to win the second most prestigious one-day title in the game.

Chappell was categorical in stating that he was indeed pleased with the way things had worked out. But he was quick to add, "This doesn't mean that we couldn't have done better."

Hailing the present squad as a "competent group" and as the one "developing in different areas", Chappell said "the team has different strategies depending on the opposition and conditions on the day. Sometime it works and on some days, it doesn't. It is always work-in-progress and not a finished job. The leading group of the team discusses strategies and the players are well and truly involved. What you describe as `experiments', the team calls them strategies.

"The idea is to have players who can adapt to different situations and make up for those who are not in form. It's quite demanding but then, playing at this level in itself is demanding."

Home turf

On playing a major event at home, the coach said, "the players love to play at home. I don't think the pressure is any greater or less. I am sure, the pluses far outweigh the negatives."

Dravid echoed the coach's sentiments and stressed the need to keep improving. "I think, if you are not improving or going forward, you are going backwards. Teams around you are striving to improve all the time so it is important to give our players the opportunities they find challenging."

He was "generally happy with the combination" but wanted to perform "better than what we have seen in the past two months."

Tendulkar, the only surviving member of the World Cup squad in 1996, the last time when India hosted a major cricketing event, said, "As the highest run-getter, I had enjoyed it then and I am sure this one is going to be no different. It is important to be positive.

"For me, the World Cup is the most important event, followed by the Champions Trophy. In an event of this nature, planning is the key when you are playing different teams. We should gather the momentum by winning and that is most important."

On the question of his batting, shifting gears in keeping with the demands of the situation, Tendulkar said, "it depends on what the team has planned, how the conditions are, what sort of feedback I get from the dressing room, etc."

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