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 Mumbai,
Oct 31: The rival captains, Rahul Dravid of India and Ricky Ponting
of Australia, expressed satisfaction over the state of the wicket at
the Wankhede stadium here today before they clash in the crucial TVS
Cup tri-nation one-day match tomorrow. Dravid told reporters before
the Indian team's net practice that the wicket looked pretty good
and there were signs that it would take a little bit of turn as the
game progresses. "I hope it will be a good wicket though there
will be a bit of dew as it is a day-night match. In Gwalior, our
spinners found it hard to grip the ball but the conditions over here
might not be that bad", he added.
Ponting, on the
other hand, said there is a bit of bounce on the wicket and "I
think it will help the batsmen to go for their shots as the bounce
looks to be even. It looks like a batting track". "We know
that beating India on their own backyard is difficult but if we
continue to play the way we did against the Kiwis at Faridabad I
think we can win the tournament", he added. Speaking highly of
the Indian spinners, Ponting said the Indian spinners bowled well
under difficult conditions with a wet ball at Gwalior and they
(spinners) still had a big role to play in the tournament.
 "It
is a great challenge for us to come to India and play well in these
conditions (heat, dust, humidity and noise) and I hope we can do
well in this tournament even without our main bowlers, who are
nursing injuries", he added. The rival captains, however,
differed on Tendulkar might be under pressure to deliver in front of
his home crowd. Ponting said "when I play in front of my home
crowd back in Australia, I will be under some sort of pressure and I
suppose the same might be the case with Tendulkar, which might work
out to our advantage".
However, Dravid
said "I don't think Tendulkar will be under any kind of
pressure playing here as he has got lot of runs in the past on the
same wicket". "A player of his class will not be bogged
down by any kind of pressure as he has proved it repeatedly
before", he added. Speaking about the composition of the team
for tomorrow's match, Dravid said "we will assess the final
eleven on the day of the match".
The Aussie skipper
said "it is hard to make any changes after the way the boys
played in Faridabad and it is bad luck that new ball bowler Michael
Kasprowicz is yet to recover from his injury and will miss the next
two games as well (Mumbai and Pune tie on November 3)". Asked
whether any replacement would be flown in for Kasprowicz, Ponting
said "the format of this tournament is such that we can't fly
in the replacements and hence we may not be asking for any and hope
that Kasprowicz will be fit for the last part of the
tournament".
Dravid, praising
the Aussies for their fine come back at Faridabad, said "the
Australians have a lot of talent. They bowled the ball in the right
area and forced Kiwis to make mistakes. Their only spinner Brad Hogg
too bowled well in the previous ties and we have to be very alert
tomorrow. (Agencies)
Published: Friday,
October 31, 2003
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