The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : ‘Middle overs crucial’

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‘Middle overs crucial’

Special Correspondent

Chennai: Stephen Fleming said the dynamics of a Twenty20 match were more complex than they appeared on surface. Speaking to presspersons, here, on Sunday, the Chennai Super Kings player said a lot hinged on the middle overs on how you are going to play the spinners.

“There are a lot of tactics involved,” said the former New Zealand skipper known for his tactical sense.

Fleming said Twenty20 cricket was bound to grow in the days to come, particularly as regional tournaments in the various countries took root. He was worried, though, with the amount of ODI cricket being played these days.

The Kiwi was firm in his view that international cricket should take precedence over essentially domestic competitions with large international participation.

Dhoni has Midas touch

On his captain in the Super Kings’ team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Fleming said, “He seems to have the golden touch. A good captain has a gut feeling and he has a gut feeling about players.”

Super Kings, he believed, had batting firepower. Fleming added the side had the depth in replacements.

Australian batsman Michael Hussey called Twenty20 cricket, a “sharp and swift” form of cricket. He said the format was not so testing physically but was “emotionally stressful.”

Queried about bidding in the IPL auction, he said, “I thought Ponting and Hayden would have gone for a little more but at what point their names came up during the bidding process might have made a difference.”

Delighted

He was delighted at the prospect of facing legends such as Shane Warne again and said IPL would help cricketers from various countries understand each other better. “Sharing the same dressing room with Murali and Dhoni and see how they go about their cricket will be of a great help.”

Hussey dwelt on the value of being able to ‘finish’ games and said there was no better feeling in the game than being at the business end of a competition, scoring the winning runs.

Asked about the Australian cricketers invariably having to earn their places in the National side, he replied, “It makes you appreciate the honour better.”

Oram is fit

Kiwi all-rounder Oram, whose fitness is often under scrutiny, said “I am okay at the moment.”

Although there could be cases of a few cricketers opting for a career in Twenty20 league, Oram said he still wanted to play for New Zealand. He added, “Of course, there are more opportunities for cricketers at the moment.”

Oram said he expected to bat in the middle-order. He has often been destructive at No. 5 or 6.

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