da heads bet： Having announced the 12 for the game, Rahul Dravid spoke at length on keeping faith in the opening combination and the decision to send Irfan Pathan back home
Dileep Premachandran in Durban25-Dec-2006
‘He [Sehwag] hasn’t done as badly in Test cricket as people makeout or believe’ © Getty Images
After the unexpected victory at the Wanderers, India head into this DurbanTest full of confidence, but Rahul Dravid was all too aware that therecould be no hint of complacency given South Africa’s formidable record atKingsmead. Having announced the 12 for the game, he spoke at length onkeeping faith in the opening combination and the decision to send IrfanPathan back home.”We’re under no illusion that South Africa are going to come hard at us,”he said, before India had one final tune-up in hot and humid conditions.”Obviously they’re very disappointed with what happened in Jo’burg. We’vejust got to play good cricket like we’ve shown we can, fight really hardand do the basics well. If we accomplish the targets that we’ve setourselves in batting, bowling, then it’s going to be a good Test match. Incritical situations, we played some good cricket, whether it was with thebat or the ball. There’s no sense of complacency.”While South Africa arrived in Durban only on Saturday, the Indians playedan unscheduled tour game against a KwaZulu-Natal Invitation XI, with thebatsmen getting more time in the middle and Munaf Patel an opportunity toprove his fitness ahead of the Test match. “It looks a good wicket,” saidDravid, after having scrutinised the dark-brown strip prepared atKingsmead. “It’s got some small cracks. It’ll be interesting to see how itunfolds. A lot depends on the weather. If there’s a lot of sunshine andheat over the next few days, then it [the cracks] may become a factor onthe fourth and fifth day. But if it’s like Jo’burg – drizzle and rain witha lot of moisture in the air – then it might not be a factor.”Munaf’s inclusion is a calculated gamble, given that his lastinternational outing was at this very ground more than a month ago. “Hepulled through well after the eight overs he bowled the day beforeyesterday,” said Dravid. “He came and practiced yesterday and bowled a fewovers. We’ll take a decision tomorrow morning based on how he feels, howconfident he is, and whether he can last the course of the Test match.”The decision could also be influenced by what happened to Dale Steyn atthe Wanderers, with the recurrence of a quadriceps strain forcing him offafter just 10.1 overs.With India having struggled to get half-decent starts on the tour, severalquestions focussed on the retention of Wasim Jaffer, whose eight inningson this tour have produced just 30 runs. “Wasim is a proven performer forus,” said Dravid, after Gautam Gambhir was left out of the 12. “Only threeor four matches back, he got a double-hundred for us in difficultconditions in Antigua. He’s not had the best of tours, but his recent Testrecord is very good.”He’s got runs behind him in domestic cricket and we have to give him asmany opportunities as we can. He’s working really hard in the nets, andseems pretty keen and focused. I think this will probably be the matchwhich will turn it around, turn his series around. I won’t give up onWasim that quickly.”Asked what factors had been considered while picking the 12, Dravid said:”We have a lot of faith and confidence in Wasim and Viru [Sehwag], and wehope that they’ll give us the sort of starts that we know they can.Getting off to a good start in the first 25 or 30 overs against thisKookaburra ball is quite critical. If we can get through that period withminimum damage, then we have the kind of middle order that can really putpressure.”Like Jaffer, Sehwag too has found runs hard to come by on the tour, andhis Test record over the past year hasn’t been anything like as imposingas it was earlier. Dravid, though, was certain that he too would come goodwhen it mattered most. “Viru did well in the West Indies, especially inone or two innings. He made a difference to the series, and has a provenTest record.”You obviously hope that he can get more runs because he makes a bigdifference to the game if he scores, in terms of the impact he has at thetop of the order. He hasn’t done as badly in Test cricket as people makeout or believe. We’ve got confidence in our opening pair. They did a goodjob for us in the West Indies. You also have to consider that theconditions weren’t exactly conducive to batting in the last game. Theiropeners struggled as well.”Graeme Smith, going through such a wretched run of late, certainly won’tdispute that.