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 The
New Zealand captain, Stephen Fleming, is confident that his side
would perform well in the one-day triangular series involving his
side, India and Australia for the TVS Cup, "Although we will be
taking on World Champion Australia and the runner-up, India."
Speaking to the
media on the eve of the inaugural tie in Chennai between India and
New Zealand, Fleming said, "We are conscious of the fact that
we will be playing two very good sides, and all I can say is it will
be an exciting series. It is a great challenge. We are delighted
that we will be playing two great sides, that too, India on Indian
soil. You don't often get a chance to play two good teams like
these."
Of course, he made
no pretensions about his players wanting to get even with Australia.
"Last time, we lost to them narrowly. This time, we will want
to beat them", he said adding that he would not like to predict
that his team would start as favourites since injury-hit Australia
was a weakened team.
 Asked
whether they would still be rated as underdogs for this series,
Fleming said his team would not be concerned about such assessments.
His side had done well in India, in conditions which were different
from that in New Zealand.
On Chris Cairns
joining the team, Fleming said he was keen to do well since a lot of
youngsters were performing well. "He wants to do his bit as
well for the team", Fleming said and pointed out that Cairns
would not just bat and will be used as a bowler as well.
Natham Astle's
absence will be felt, but the team had a lot of talent and depth and
would still do well, he felt.
Chris Harris had
performed well against the Aussies in a World Cup tie in Chennai
some years ago, which match Fleming felt New Zealand should have
won, and he would like to be back in Chennai, the skipper added.
 Indian
skipper Rahul Dravid, who also addressed the media, said he would
not keep wickets in the one-day series. Parthiv Patel will do the
job, he added. His firm answer settled an issue which had kept
cropping up.
The Indian team had
no injury problems and all 14 were fit, he said.
No decision had yet
been taken on the eleven that would play the Chennai tie against New
Zealand, Dravid said, in reply to a question. He also declined to
reveal if Tendulkar and Sehwag would open the innings or whether
Laxman would bat at number three. "We would not like to give
out information on team strategy", he added.
Asked if he was
dissatisfied with the quality of wickets prepared for the Test
series against New Zealand, Dravid said he would not like to talk
about the pitches. The Indian team was more concerned with doing its
best irrespective of the nature of the pitches.
 On
Tendulkar's form, Dravid said it was unfortunate that some persons
tried to raise questions about his form when he failed in an innings
or in a match. "He is a fantastic player and it is strange that
a question should be raised about his form. I am sure the New
Zealand bowlers will suffer at his hands."
On the prospect of
Badani playing in front of his home crowd on October 23, Dravid said
he was a fine player who had done well in domestic cricket.
He declined to
comment on Prasanna's recent observation that he was disappointed
with the progress made by the Indian spinners, particularly
off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.
Dravid hoped that
it would not rain any further in Chennai till the completion of the
match on October 23!
R Rangaraj
Published:
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
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