da betsson： He may be just one good game away from trumping Pakistan on their hometurf but Rahul Dravid continues to stress on the strategies, plans andprocesses, rather than results
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan in Multan15-Feb-2006
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has no fixed batting position, exemplifying India’s flexible approach © AFP
He may be just one good game away from trumping Pakistan on their hometurf but Rahul Dravid continues to stress on the strategies, plans andprocesses, rather than results. Returning to the ground where he led Indiato their first Test win in Pakistan, on that memorable March morning in2004, Dravid spoke about Pakistan’s ability to bounce back and hoped thathis side could continue to excel in all three departments of the game.”We need one more day of good cricket to win the series and we’reconfident we can do it here [Multan],” he said while speaking ahead of the fourthODI. “We’ve shown in the last two games that we can do well in all threedepartments of the game and we need to continue to implement ourstrategies. It’s heartening to see our plans working well. If it helps uswin, then very good.”In the last year, though Pakistan have shown a tremendous ability tofight back and Dravid will remember the home series last year when Indiafrittered away a 2-0 advantage. “Pakistan are a very good team,” hecontinued and brushed aside suggestions that they were weakened byinjuries to a couple of key players. “They are a fine side even withoutShahid Afridi and Shoaib Akhtar and we can’t sit back and relax. We arealso missing Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag, two players who havebeen critical parts of our success, but it all comes down to the team thatplays better cricket on the day.”India have got on a hot chasing streak ever since Dravid took over asone-day captain, successfully overhauling targets in their last nineattempts, but he said there was no preference to bat second. “It all comesdown to playing good cricket,” he continued, “and we’re confident ofbatting first or chasing. We have a good record chasing but we have plansand strategies for any eventuality.”Flexibility has been the key to India’s triumphs while chasing and Dravidadmitted that having a player like Mahendra Singh Dhoni was a big advantage.”There’s been no rigid stand with his batting position. At Peshawar hebatted at No.4 and did well; at Rawalpindi, we kept him back. The idea isto give batsmen a chance to bat in all positions and challenge themselvesin tough situations.”India have been hampered by Harbhajan’s injury, and didn’t pick aspecialist spinner in their playing XI at both Rawalpindi and Lahore, butDravid looked at it as an opportunity for the part-time spinners to provetheir worth. “[Sachin] Tendulkar has bowled well in the last two games,”he said, “and we’re trying to develop him, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singhand Suresh Raina as the fifth bowling option. The only way of developingthem is by giving them a chance in important situations. We’ve usuallypicked a bowler as a Supersub but we will have more options if theseplayers bowl well.”