Dravid reposes faith in Sehwag

Rahul Dravid, the Indian captain, has reiterated his confidence in Virender Sehwag, despite his third-ball duck in the warm-up match against West Indies on Friday. But he also added that Sehwag, who's failed to cross 20 in 11 of his last 13 innings, was one of the several opening options that the team had in front of them, suggesting that a move down the order shouldn't be ruled out.

"He missed out and we would like him to get more runs," said Dravid. "He's a player who has done well here in the past. Virender will have a big role to play here in the tournament and hopefully he will fire and be a dangerous cricketer."

But Dravid, on who's insistence Sehwag reportedly made it to the World Cup squad, added that India would not be afraid to use other options. "We have the option of four guys who can open the batting. Sourav Ganguly, Sehwag, Robin Uthappa and Sachin Tendulkar - they have all opened the batting, and some have done it for longer than others.

"We have the options, and we just have to see who is in form, who is playing well, what the combination of the team is, and what the pitches are like before we decide what is the best combination for the side at the time. It's nice to have some flexibility and people who can bat in various positions for us, but our plans have always been dependent on what is the situation."

Dravid admitted that "flexibility" will be a key factor in his side's bid to win their second World Cup title. "I don't think you can enter a World Cup with only one plan and every time you are going to use this one plan," he said. "I think it has to vary and you will see that teams will have to adapt to the different conditions and be flexible according to the situation. We hope to do this and we think we have the players that can do it. We have an idea in our minds about the kind of combinations we want to play, and the players we want to pick, but there are too many variables, so only time will tell."

Sehwag also received support in the form of Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, who felt he would bounce back like Ganguly did. "This [losing form] is part and parcel of the game. One year back, people were talking the same about Sourav Ganguly. All that has stopped after he performed so well and now he has become an asset to the team," Pawar told reporters. "Sometimes you perform and sometimes you don't. You don't have to think much about such players. He is a run-getter."