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| December 19, 2002 | Thursday | Shawwal 14, 1423 |
Fleming dares Indian batsmen to prove class
HAMILTON (New Zealand), Dec 18: New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming has challenged India’s batsmen to live up to their much-vaunted reputation in the second Test between the two sides starting on Thursday.
“We hear a lot of talk about India’s batting and how they are the best players in the world,” Fleming told reporters on Wednesday.
“But, if you can’t play on all surfaces, then you are not the best players in the world.
“They can be great players, but to adapt to different surfaces would make them even greater.
“When we go to India, we have to adjust to slower, turning wickets and that’s just as big a challenge — more so in some instances — than playing on a good, bouncy wicket,” he added.
New Zealand lead the two-match series 1-0 after demolishing their opponents by 10 wickets at the Basin Reserve in Wellington last week.
India’s batting folded with only one exception in each innings, Rahul Dravid top-scoring with 76 in the first innings of 161 and Sachin Tendulkar making 51 as his side collapsed to 121 all out batting a second time.
Not that New Zealand’s batsmen shone with a first innings of 247 in the Wellington test but Fleming said the wet spring and early summer in New Zealand had been a key factor, combining to produce pitches of fresh, rather than good, bounce.
“We have been wanting bouncier wickets but, with the weather we’ve had, we’ve also copped a lot of seam,” he said. “If we’re honest, no one likes that.”
Meanwhile India still face fitness concerns over Sanjay Bangar and Ajit Agarkar, who both suffered finger injuries in the Wellington Test.
Agarkar’s injury could provide the opportunity for right-arm seamer Tinu Yohannan to play in his third Test, having impressed with the ball in the three-day tour match against Central Districts earlier this month.
India coach John Wright wants his batsmen to produce greater self-belief after their disappointing performance in the Wellington series opener.
“You don’t become a bad player overnight and I still believe the New Zealand cricket fan wants to see this (Indian) team batting (well),” he said. “And that’s what we will try to do in this match.”
But the former New Zealand captain Wright does not want the likes of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Vangipurappu Laxman to curb their natural, attacking strokeplay.
“We have a style of play and to ask them to play more conservatively is dangerous,” he said.
“I don’t think Rahul, Sachin or Saurav (Ganguly) would have achieved what they have in world cricket if they’d played conservatively — and I don’t intend to change that.”
Worse, India’s preparations for the match suffered a setback as they were forced to practise indoors due to rain, threatening to rule out a timely start to the game.
Teams:
New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (captain, Mark Richardson, Lou Vincent, Craig McMillan, Nathan Astle, Scott Styris, Jacob Oram, Robbie Hart, Daniel Vettori, Daryl Tuffey, Shane Bond. 12th man: Michael Mason.
India (from): Saurav Ganguly (captain), Sanjay Bangar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman, Parthiv Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Tinu Yohannan, Ajit Agarkar, Murli Kartik, Shiv Das, Ajay Ratra, Mohammad Kaif.—Reuters/AFP
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