da cassino online： ‘We had a good couple of weeks and got on a roll. Mentally, the last 15 to 16 games have been good for our confidence’ , says Dravid
da betsul： Siddhartha Vaidyanathan in Karachi19-Feb-2006
Rahul Dravid believes Yuvraj Singh has taken his batting ‘ to a new level’ and reckons Mahendra Siingh Dhoni is ‘a special player and an exceptional talent’ © AFP
What do you say about two batsmen who have aggregated 563 runs betweenthem, ended with averages of 172 and 219, responded to different sorts ofpressures, and finished games in resounding fashion? Throughout theseries, Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni proved to be thorns inPakistan’s flesh and Rahul Dravid acknowledged their role with fulsomepraise.”Yuvraj’s Man-of-the-Series award is well deserved,” he said at thepost-match press conference. “His batting has come along over the last fewmonths and he’s really taken it to a new level. He’s gone from strength tostrength. After his 84 on debut [in the 2000 Champions Trophy againstAustralia in Nairobi], we knew he was a special talent. But the last fewmonths have been a turning point.”He will have low points in his career but he will surely come through.One can’t point out one specific reason why he’s batting so well. It’s notlike throwing a switch or taking a tablet. He started season well and thatgave him a bit of confidence. Becoming a regular part of the Test team wasalso a big step for him. The vice-captaincy has also brought with it asense of belonging and responsibility.”Dravid termed the Lahore win as a “special” one and felt that it was thegame when they had “broken Pakistan’s back”. Two of the architects of thatvictory were Yuvraj and Dhoni, one who Dravid felt had been a pricelessasset to the side. “Dhoni has added zing to the side,” he continued. “He’sa special player and an exceptional talent. He has both a fantasticstrike-rate and average. We’re looking at it like a jigsaw puzzle andstill trying to fit people in like Dhoni. The advantage with him is thathe can be fitted anywhere – he finishes games, and, along with Irfan,gives us that option.”
‘We tried to give Sreesanth the new ball and old ball. He responded very well at thedeath’ – Dravid © AFP
He was also heartened by the strides that the bowlers had taken duringthis tour and spoke about the way they had handled different challenges.”It’s good that bowlers like Sreesanth and RP Singh have done so well,” headded when asked about his faster bowlers having a greater say during thisseries, snaffling 30 of the 39 wickets to fall. “It was great that wecould give them a new challenge every day and see them respond. We triedto give Sreesanth the new ball and old ball. He responded very well at thedeath. We’re trying to develop a squad where different bowlers can do wellin different parts of game. The bowlers were under pressure after theTests but they stuck to each other as a group, talked through their plansand executed it to perfection.”This series win caps a superb four months for Dravid as a one-day captainand he looked back at what has been a memorable time in charge. “We had agood couple of weeks and got on a roll. Mentally, the last 15 to 16 gameshave been good for our confidence. All the teams we played were higherthan us in the table [Sri Lanka, South Africa and Pakistan] but we didn’tlose any series. There is certain energy in the group and it’s been agood few months.”Dravid and his boys will get only around ten days before their nextchallenge, a stern Test series against England, and he spoke about theplans for the same. “The Tests against England will be a differentchallenge. It’s a new series and a different team. We get a few days breakbefore we go back and formulate strategies. There’s a good spirit andconfidence in the side and we’re confident.”He added that he hadn’t had much of chance to think about selectorialmatters, like who would open the batting in Tests. “The selectors willhave a big say. We will discuss plans and strategies before the series.”
