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| August 3, 2005 | Wednesday | Jumadi-us-Sani 26, 1426 |
Chappell expects better showing from batsmen
DAMBULLA, Aug 2: Indian coach Greg Chappell is looking forward to a better batting performance from his team against Sri Lanka in a triangular one-day series match on Wednesday. India batted much below expectations in their opening game against the hosts on Saturday, making 205 before losing the contest by three wickets. Skipper Rahul Dravid alone kept his reputation intact, top-scoring with a solid 54.
“We need to bat better. A total of 250 was what we needed on Saturday, but we were 40 or 50 runs short,” Chappell said on Tuesday. “I am happy with our bowling and fielding in both the games. We just need to get more out of our batting. The good thing is batting is our strength for a while, so hopefully that will come back.”
Bowlers set India’s victory in the second match on Sunday as Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra and Virender Sehwag each bagged two wickets to restrict the West Indies to a modest 178.
India then rode on Dravid’s second successive half-century to complete the job with 14 overs to spare.
Chappell was not worried about Sehwag’s twin failures in the ongoing tournament, saying the opening batsman would soon rediscover his form.
“He is a good player but not scoring runs. He is likely to be kick-started into good form with a couple of good shots in the middle,” said the former Australian Test captain.
“I am not worried about it (Sehwag’s form). I am more worried about the fact that we have not made enough runs as a team at this stage and we need everybody to contribute to it.”
Hard-hitting opener Sehwag failed in both the matches, scoring 14 against Sri Lanka and two against the West Indies.
The Indian coach welcomed the return of Saurav Ganguly, saying the batsman’s experience would stand the team in good stead.
“He is an experienced player and the leader in the group. Whether he is captain or not he is a senior player. We will be relying on him a lot, not only for his leadership but also batting,” said Chappell.
Ganguly, with 9,967 runs in 271 one-dayers, joined the squad on Monday after serving a four-match ban. He was captain when suspended for his team’s slow over-rate against Pakistan in a home one-day series in April.
Dravid was named captain for this tournament.
“I think this is a great opportunity for him (Ganguly) to just go out and play and not to worry about captaincy. It will be a good opportunity to focus on his batting and get some runs under his belt,” said Chappell.
“What we are looking for from him is a continued good performance and the leadership that we know he can offer.”
Chappell also defended the changes in batting order, saying the aim was to give every player an opportunity to find the right combinations for the future.
“We are keen to give as much games as possible to all players in the squad,” he said.
“It is not about playing the same eleven game after game because in the long run that will be a negative outcome. If someone gets injured, we will have guys sitting on the sidelines doing nothing for weeks and for months.
“They won’t be ready to play and we need everyone ready to play.”
India shuffled their batting order in both the matches, with Sehwag opening with middle-order batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni against Sri Lanka and with Mohammad Kaif against the West Indies.
Suresh Raina, who batted at No 6 in the first match, was promoted to No 3 in the second.
“We hope that all the players (get to) play by the end of the series. That has been our aim. There is 10 months of cricket,” said Chappell.
“We need to have a fully-fit, practice-fit and match-fit squad in all ways such that if we have got any injuries, got any illnesses, got any loss of form we have got guys who can be switched in and switched out.”—AFP
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