da bwin： A dismayed Rahul Dravid said later that this was a loss that would “behard to stomach”, given how magnificently the bowlers had performed torestrict Australia to just 213
Dileep Premachandran in Kuala Lumpur22-Sep-2006
Rahul Dravid blamed the loss on the collective failure of the top order, including himself © AFP
A dismayed Rahul Dravid said later that this was a loss that would “behard to stomach”, given how magnificently the bowlers had performed torestrict Australia to just 213. And though Dinesh Mongia tried his best tosalvage the situation with a valiant unbeaten 63, the damage done by BrettLee early on was just too much to absorb as the match wound its way to agripping denouement.”I think we lost it with the bat, there is no doubt about it,” said Dravidruefully. “On that pitch, 213 was gettable, and we should’ve got there. Wedidn’t string enough partnerships together. We didn’t have people, otherthan Dinesh [Mongia], who got starts and carried on. We needed another 50from a batsman at the top of the order.”According to him, the debacle was a collective one, with nothing to begained by singling out individual culprits. “It’s important for all of usto stand up and be counted, consistently,” he said. “That includes me, Ihaven’t had a very good tournament and I’ll be the first one to say that Ishould’ve done a lot better. I had a good chance to do that today. If Ihad batted the full 50 overs, the result would have been different. Itstarts right at the top, with me.”When questioned about Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s moment of recklessness, withIndia needing just four an over, Dravid refused to be too critical,pointing instead to the frailty at the top of the order. “We all makemistakes and there is no point singling out one person. If you lookthrough the batting order, and leave aside Dinesh, a lot of guys with alot more experience than Dhoni could have played a lot better.”These are the kind of losses that hurt. There are some positives, butthere are other areas of the game we need to get better at. Everyone inthe team will have to look at himself and see if they played according tothe demands of the situation. Dhoni is a natural strokemaker, and willprobably get out like that.”The positives he spoke of came in the shape of the bowlers, who reined inAustralia’s batting for the second game in succession, striking blows withpace and spin alike. “The bowling has been good in the last three matchesand it’s heartening,” said Dravid. “Our bowling and fielding have beenpositive signs.”Though this was India’s ninth loss in the last 10 outings againstAustralia, Dravid dismissed suggestions that they had been overawed by thequality of the opposition. “The guys have played a lot of cricket and havedone well against the same bowlers earlier,” he said. “I don’t think wewere overawed, it’s just that we lost those four wickets early and thatput a lot of pressure on the lower middle order. Dinesh batted really welland controlled the game, but unfortunately there was not enough supportfor him. To come back after not having played for India for a long time,and to bowl, field and bat the way he did was very creditable. Dinesh [Mongia] batted really well and controlled the game. To come back after not having played for India for a long time, and to bowl, field and bat the way he did was very creditable “We haven’t played well against Australia, and today was a greatopportunity. A lot of times, you get outclassed but today we weren’tbehind by any stretch of imagination. We should have pulled this onethrough.”There was praise for Mark Benson and the manner in which the Sachin Tendulkarincident was handled, and Dravid brushed off suggestions that it mighthave contributed to Tendulkar’s dismissal in the next over. “The umpire iswell within the rules of the game to call back someone if he deems fit,and I think he got it right,” he said. “I don’t have any issues at the wayit was handled. I don’t think that rattled him [Sachin] too much. He’s anexperienced player who has got so many runs in international cricket bybeing able to play one ball at a time. I’m sure he would have focused ondoing that today as well.”The batting order was shuffled around again, with Yuvraj Singh absent andVirender Sehwag restored to the top of the order, but Dravid wascategorical that defeat had nothing to do with a change in strategy. “Idon’t think we are losing games because of that,” he said. “When you’reasked to chase 213 on a good wicket, you’ve just got to have batsmen whocan bat, who can go on and get scores and partnerships.”We thought we’d try some things in these two tournaments, and couldn’tbecause of rain. We have gone through our one-day cricket over the lastseason and identified certain areas which could be addressed. Obviously,we didn’t have enough time and enough games, so we went back to thetried-and-tested formula for an important game.”Unfortunately, that formula came unstuck, with the batsmen fluffing theirlines against a side that refuses to countenance defeat in crunch games.