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 Chennai,
Oct 22: India's stand-in captain Rahul Dravid and New Zealand
skipper Stephen Fleming today said the 10-match tri-series, with
Australia making up the third side, would be an exciting one, with
three of the top five limited overs teams in the world vying for the
coveted TVS Cup. Replying to a battery of questions at a crowded
press conference on the eve of the opening match between India and
the Kiwis here tomorrow, both captains declined to divulge the
composition of their respective teams or the strategy to be adopted.
"I think all the three teams are capable and have a chance of
winning. You will have to play well to beat any of the sides",
Fleming said.
"All the three
teams are among the top five sides in the world", Dravid said.
Stating that he did not want to give away too much about team
composition or strategy, he said, "We are not going to announce
any eleven at this stage. We will do that just before the
game". Asked who was likely to open in the absence of Sourav
Ganguly, he said, "We haven't decided what our final eleven
will be or what the batting order will be". To a pointed
question about him donning the gloves tomorrow, Dravid said he was
not likely to keep wickets and added that "it has been decided
that Parthiv Patel will be keeping wickets".
 Asked
if V V S Laxman will be playing up the order, Dravid said the
situation would be assessed after practice. "We will look at
all our options. We have quite a lot of options in the side and we
don't want to rule out anybody in the 14 (players named for the
first match in Chennai)". "Not really", Dravid said
when asked if he was under any pressure leading the side.
"Obviously, we have a pressure to do well and play well for the
country and play good cricket and win. So we will go out and play
good cricket", he said. On whether a win in the first game
would be significant, he replied "very important" and
reiterated that the opponents were very good. "All the more, we
will be keen to do well".
Avoiding a direct
reply when asked if the series would give India an opportunity to
get back at Australia for the humiliating defeat it meted out at the
World Cup, Dravid said it would always be a great challenge to play
against the world champions as "they are a very great
side". Asked whether New Zealand's fine performance in the
two-match Test series would have a psychological impact on the team,
Dravid pointed out that the one-day game "is a different ball
game. So I don't think too much need be read into the side's
performance in the Test matches".
 To
another question about the bad patch that master batsman Sachin
Tendulkar seemed to be going through, Dravid laughed it off saying
"Sachin is such a great and terrific player." Stating that
it was very strange that people expected top players to score 100s
at each game and questioned their form if they did not oblige,
Dravid said he quite enjoyed people saying that Tendulkar's form was
bad because "I know Sachin is going to come back really hard
and prove a lot of people wrong".
Asked if the series
would give Hemang Badani a chance to prove his mettle, Dravid said
it would be a great opportunity for the southpaw, who had done very
well in the domestic circuit. "All the 14 in the squad are fit
for selection", he said in reply to another question. On
whether the inclement weather conditions would favour India's
bowling spearhead Zaheer Khan, he said he was not aware of the
condition of the wicket as he was yet to visit the ground. "So,
it's hard to say who the wicket might favour". Dravid refused
to be drawn into the question of wickets prepared for the Test
series saying "I am a batsman and not preparing wickets. We
have to concentrate on what's in store for us".
 Describing
the current tour as "one of the toughest tours," Fleming
said his players felt the same. On the reference to the
"underdogs" tag being attached to his team, the Kiwi
skipper said, "We want to play well, be favourites for the cup
and prove it". Emphatically saying that the final eleven for
tomorrow had not been decided, Fleming said he was hopeful of Jacob
Oram playing. "He had a week to recover and we are pretty
hopeful". Asked if his team's fine performance in the Test
matches gave the Kiwis an edge over India, he said "this is
one-day cricket now. There is adjustment to be made".
To a question
pertaining to all-rounder Chris Cairns, the New Zealand captain
described him as a "very determined and very proud man".
The "very determined" Chris Cairns had seen a lot of young
players like Jacob Oram rise. "He (Cairns) is a very proud man
so he wants to put in some good performances in India. He loves
playing one-day cricket and loves being part of the New Zealand
team". Asked about the last high scoring encounter between
Australia and New Zealand in Chennai, which Australia won, he said,
"We have to be a very good side to beat Australia even in
India. You have to be good for 100 overs".
Replying in the
affirmative on whether the presence of star batsman Nathan Astle
would be missed, he said "Astle is a quality player". An
emphatic 'no' was Fleming's reply when asked if his team's
creditable performance in the Test series gave it an edge over
India. Referring to the Kiwis' defeat at the hands of India in the
World Cup, he said "It was disappointing. India played well to
defeat us." The team had performed well to win the trophy in
Sri Lanka, he pointed out. (Our Correspondent )
Published:
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
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