'We're confident of batting first or chasing' - Dravid
He may be just one good game away from trumping Pakistan on their home turf but Rahul Dravid continues to stress on the strategies, plans and processes, rather than results
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan in Multan
15-Feb-2006
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"We need one more day of good cricket to win the series and we're
confident we can do it here [Multan]," he said while speaking ahead of the fourth
ODI. "We've shown in the last two games that we can do well in all three
departments of the game and we need to continue to implement our
strategies. It's heartening to see our plans working well. If it helps us
win, then very good."
In the last year, though Pakistan have shown a tremendous ability to
fight back and Dravid will remember the home series last year when India
frittered away a 2-0 advantage. "Pakistan are a very good team," he
continued and brushed aside suggestions that they were weakened by
injuries to a couple of key players. "They are a fine side even without
Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Akhtar and we can't sit back and relax. We are
also missing Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag, two players who have
been critical parts of our success, but it all comes down to the team that
plays better cricket on the day."
India have got on a hot chasing streak ever since Dravid took over as
one-day captain, successfully overhauling targets in their last nine
attempts, but he said there was no preference to bat second. "It all comes
down to playing good cricket," he continued, "and we're confident of
batting first or chasing. We have a good record chasing but we have plans
and strategies for any eventuality."
Flexibility has been the key to India's triumphs while chasing and Dravid
admitted that having a player like Mahendra Singh Dhoni was a big advantage.
"There's been no rigid stand with his batting position. At Peshawar he
batted at No.4 and did well; at Rawalpindi, we kept him back. The idea is
to give batsmen a chance to bat in all positions and challenge themselves
in tough situations."
India have been hampered by Harbhajan's injury, and didn't pick a
specialist spinner in their playing XI at both Rawalpindi and Lahore, but
Dravid looked at it as an opportunity for the part-time spinners to prove
their worth. "[Sachin] Tendulkar has bowled well in the last two games,"
he said, "and we're trying to develop him, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh
and Suresh Raina as the fifth bowling option. The only way of developing
them is by giving them a chance in important situations. We've usually
picked a bowler as a Supersub but we will have more options if these
players bowl well."
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan is staff writer of Cricinfo