da prosport bet： Greg Chappell speaks about Sourav Ganguly’s return, Sreesanth’s emergence, and the need for a strong leadership group

da betsul： Dileep Premachandran 21-Dec-2006

‘It’s one thing to ask them to bat higher up the order in a one-day game for various reasons like field placings.’ Greg Chappell on whether Pathan will be used as makeshift Test opener © Getty Images
What are the plans for Durban now, in the light of this victory? We’re in a better state to be able to deal with Durban now than we werethree weeks ago when we were there last.You mean a better state mentally? Yes, and a better physical state. We’ve had a bit more time to adjust tothe conditions and I think we’ve demonstrated in this Test match that wehave an attack that can use those conditions. So I think the SouthAfricans will be a little bit more aware of what we can bring to the tableas well and that might change their approach to Durban. I just think we’rethat much more experienced, the younger players are that much moreexperienced, the senior players have addressed the issues they needed toaddress and we’re in a better state mentally and physically to deal withit than we were last time.Will the additional bounce still be a problem? It was tough. I mean, how long had we been in South Africa before we gotto Durban? We’d only been here a week or so. It takes some adjustment.It’s like the Indian team coming to Australia and going to Perth for thefirst time. They’d be better equipped the second time around.South Africa got bowled out for 84 here at the Wanderers, so they mightnot be looking forward to going to Durban either.Do you remain concerned over the form of the openers? We’ve been through this situation before, and most teams have gone throughit. Viru wasn’t in great shape before we got to St. Lucia, he did finethere. The extra bounce at Kingsmead might suit him. Look, at any givenmoment, there are concerns about the state of the team, the group,individuals within the group. I don’t want to talk about individuals asthis is not the right place. But yes, we’re concerned about a number ofissues. We’d like everyone to get runs or get wickets all the time, butthat doesn’t happen unfortunately.And what’s the situation with Munaf Patel? We’re hopeful. Two days in the middle [India have arranged a two-day matchagainst a Kwa Zulu Natal Invitation XI] will be a lot more valuable thantwo days at the nets, and Munaf is now bowling again. He bowled for thesecond or third time yesterday, and is getting better by the day. We’ll bein a better position to know what his fitness is closer to the event. Wecan get him to bowl two or three spells in that game, and that would giveus a much better idea as opposed to bowling two or three spells in a netsession.But if there’s the slightest doubt when we get to Kingsmead, we’ll err onthe conservative side and make sure that whenever he next plays, he’ll be100 percent fit. He’s too important to us in the medium to long term torisk short-term benefit.I was quite happy with our attack in this game and if we do have to go inwith that same attack, I’m not going to be too disappointed. If Munaf isfit and ready, he would certainly come in for serious consideration.Has the team considered makeshift openers? I think in Test cricket, specialists are more likely to do the job foryou. There will be the odd time where you can maybe use an experiment forwant of a better word. As a basic belief though, I think specialists wouldwork best.Parthiv [Patel] was once used in Pakistan. Would you use Irfan [Pathan]at the top? Is it a temptation or would that be going two steps back? We certainly haven’t discussed that at this stage and I wouldn’t see itnecessarily as a main option coming into Durban, but if we thought it wasa viable one we would certainly consider it. Irfan batted extremely wellin Potch but it’s a helluva thing to ask. It’s one thing to ask them tobat higher up the order in a one-day game for various reasons like fieldplacings.You’ve got someone like Virender. His Test record is extraordinary. Andwhen he gets runs, he normally gets big. It’s hard to walk away from aspecialist player in that sort of position. But again, when you thinkback, he [Sehwag] was a middle-order player.

if we make a change, it would be more likely to go with someone who is aspecialist [opener] in the squad [Gautam Gambhir.’ – Chappell on using Rahul Dravid as a opener © Getty Images
Could Rahul [Dravid] go up, as he did in Pakistan? That’s an option again, but we haven’t got to that stage. I think if wemake a change, it would be more likely to go with someone who is aspecialist in the squad [Gautam Gambhir].Where do things stand now with Pathan? I’m sure we’ll look back and say that this was a catalyst for him to go toanother level. The work he’s put in on his batting the last 18 months ispaying off. And I think he’s a great example to other players, not justthe bowlers even the batsmen that if you stop working on the basics,don’t continue with them, you can go backwards.Even Zaheer [Khan] batted really well in this game.It’s very much a mental thing, and he’s come to the realisation with hisown batting that this is the thought process he needs to have. And at theend of the day, it’s not about technique. India is probably moretechnique-minded than anywhere else in the cricket world, but thetechnique is an expression of what you’re thinking about. Your techniquecan look totally different one ball to the next, let alone one day to thenext, because of the thought processes.Would you also say that people have been a bit too harsh and impulsivewhen it comes to Jaffer, given he has failed just once? When you’ve got good players who are proven performers, you don’t throwthem away lightly. Cricket history is littered with players who’ve comeout of slumps and made big scores. It was only two or three Test matchesago that Wasim got 200 for us. You’ve got to be very careful in writingpeople off. Again, it’s an adjustment to come back into the group, letalone play. He played a couple of one-day games, but this was the firstgame back, as far as Test matches were concerned, after early July in theWest Indies. It’s best not to be too hasty.