The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : A step towards constant improvement

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 27, 2007
ePaper

Sport

Sport - Cricket

A step towards constant improvement

The team should learn to take the toss, pitch and weather out of the equation, writes Anil Kumble

It’s very special to have started with a win. Having said that, however, I think we have to constantly challenge ourselves to go further.

We have to remember the importance of planning, setting goals and working towards them.

For instance, see the way we chased here, using a model we used in Adelaide (during the 2003-04 Australia series). Like then, we divided the chase into very small targets of five runs each.

We took a sheet of paper, and wrote 5 forty times plus three and on the completion of every set of five runs, it was Russell’s (Radhakrishnan, the Indian team’s travel assistant) job to go and strike one off.

I liked the idea behind this, working on short-term targets to achieve a long-term goal. It has proved to be very effective.

For the rest, I thought the team did exceptionally well on the first day, after losing the toss. But this is where I would like to mention that I’d like to see a future where we, as a team, learn to take the toss, pitch and weather out of the equation.

Reflection of attitude

That is essential to our improvement as a team. We should not feel disadvantaged by batting second if we lose the toss because of the pitch, it simply should not matter.

Your game is inevitably a reflection of your attitude. I’d like to try and instil a psyche where we go out and fight in each game without thinking about factors that are beyond our control.

At an individual level, I didn’t feel any different this time than in any other game, though it felt nice to be in charge. Yes, there were some changes, in deciding bowling strategies, setting the field, egging on players or addressing the team after every session on our return to the dressing room.

I’ve also been asked whether I was worried about underbowling or overbowling myself as a bowler-captain. Not really. I just kept in mind that in the Kotla, it is very important to keep rotating the bowlers. It is a slow wicket, so it was important that the batsmen didn’t get used to bowlers coming at them at the same pace.

Improved batting

Meanwhile, we’re already looking forward to the second Test at the Eden, in trying to reiterate the positives that have come out of this game and seize the moments we did not in the first innings here. I think our batting, for instance, improved from the first innings to the second. People seemed in too much of a hurry in the first, possibly because of the one-day mould, but Laxman batted brilliantly with Dhoni.

I’m trying to also reiterate the belief in a work ethic and outlook in which professionalism and commitment to a common cause are paramount. That’s one of the things I put down in the sheet I handed out to all the players. We seem in sync on that and that’s a good beginning. We handled the pressure better and what was very encouraging was that every individual contributed to the result.

That’s what finally made a difference. — Hawkeye Communications / Chivach Sports

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport