da heads bet： Rahul Dravid and Herschelle Gibbs spoke to the media at the end of a gruelling first day with the match interestingly poised
Dileep Premachandran at Durban26-Dec-2006
Sreesanth’s express delivery to Mark Boucher was one of the turning points of the day © Getty Images
Calling it a hard grind, Rahul Dravid looked back with some satisfactionon an opening day where India picked up eight wickets to move into apromising position on an atypical Durban pitch. At one stage, South Africawere sitting more than a little pretty at 222 for 4, but Sreesanth’sexpress delivery to Mark Boucher, and a googly special from Anil Kumbletowards the end tilted the balance firmly in India’s favour.”We had a good day, bowled really well,” said Dravid. “To end up where wedid was a great effort by all the boys.” He admitted that the nature ofthe pitch had been a surprise, with a far more pacy surface having beenprepared for the one-day game that India lost so miserably last month.”It’s a bit different from Kingsmead wickets that I’ve played on earlier,which had a lot more pace and bounce,” he said. “It’s got a bit of bounce,this one, but not the pace. It might quicken up as the game goes on andthe sun beats down on it.”India had South Africa reeling at 28 for 3 at one stage, but Dravid saidthat he wasn’t too disappointed with what followed. “They’ve got somequality players out there,” he said. “They’re an international side andthey’ll get some partnerships going. I thought the boys stuck to the taskreally well. Even in that afternoon session where we got only one wicket,we worked really hard and created a couple of chances. Who knows whatmight have happened if we’d held on? In spite of that, on a hot day intough conditions, we stuck at it. We deserved the wickets at the end justfor the effort that we put in.”He was full of praise for all his bowlers, with Zaheer Khan’s new-ballspell coming in for special mention. “He bowled beautifully in themorning, swung the ball and troubled all their batsmen,” said Dravid. “Itset the game up for us, that opening spell from Zak and Sreesanth.” Thethird member of the pace attack, VRV Singh, had a mixed day, bowling atsearing pace in the afternoon only to see Ashwell Prince dropped off hisbowling at slip. The wicket of Shaun Pollock late in the day was someconsolation.”VRV bowled without a lot of luck,” said Dravid. “He could easily haveended up with three or four wickets today. If he keeps bowling like this,and putting in the effort, there’ll be days when he won’t bowl as well andget more wickets.”Dravid’s finger injury forced him out of the slip cordon, and a lingeringsoreness has meant that he positioned himself at mid-off, close to thebowling action. When asked if it allowed him to keep an eye on the likesof Sreesanth, whose exuberance earned him a fine in the previous Test,Dravid said: “He’s a young kid playing only his seventh Test match. Youmust remember that. He’s doing a fantastic job, bowling good areas with alot of discipline.”His spell in the afternoon to get Boucher’s wicket was really special. Itwas the end of a long day, and he’d probably bowled 15 overs by then. Andthat was the catalyst for us to pick up two more wickets at the end.”
‘Zaheer bowled beautifully in themorning, swung the ball and troubled all their batsmen’ © Getty Images
Like VRV Singh, Herschelle Gibbs too had an up-and-down day. Having battedquite majestically at times for his 63, he threw it away with a shot thatmight have driven a coach like Ray Jennings to violence. But having walkedout with his place in the side very much on the line, Gibbs said: “I’m notrelieved as much as I’m disappointed that I never pushed on to get ahundred. But yes, some runs are better than no runs.”He said that the pitch had been a “tricky” one, but expected it to getbetter on days two and three, cheery news for the Indian batsmen who willfront up to the new ball at some point on Wednesday morning. “We alwaysknew it will be on the slower side on day one and normally, day two andday three are good for batting,” said Gibbs. “We were a bit unlucky thatwe lost our way a little bit towards the end. If we can squeeze in 40 runstomorrow, we should be okay.”Prince finished the day unbeaten on 98, and his effort, on the back of 97at the Wanderers, and Gibbs was appreciative in his assessment of a manwho has gone from the fringes to potential captaincy material in the spaceof 18 months. “He was very tight, very sound. That’s how you play Testcricket. He stayed tight, defended well and hit the ball when it was thereto hit.”Gibbs and most of his team-mates might have prepared to face Munaf Patelon the eve of the game, but the Indian team management decided not to takea risk on the morning of the game. “He wasn’t considered because weweren’t 100 percent certain that he’d last the course of a Test match,”said Dravid. “He bowled eight overs in that match [against a Kwazulu-NatalInvitation XI] the other day, and was bowling about six or seven overs inpractice, but it’s totally different intensity. He was probably two orthree days away from what would be ideal for a Test match.”It’s too risky with young fast bowlers when they’re not fully fit. We’replaying just four bowlers, so it was a chance we could not take. Not onlyfor us, but for him as well, his career and his development as a player.It would have been unfair for us to push him at this stage.”The news was better on Sachin Tendulkar, after he went off the field in theafternoon following a spilt chance at first slip. “It’s just bruised, theright thumb,” said Dravid. “He’ll bat.”Injuries played a part in South Africa’s team selection too, with DaleSteyn and Jacques Kallis both missing out. Morne Morkel made his debut inplace of Steyn, and Andrew Hall came in for the fifth-bowler role thatKallis usually performs. For Dravid, it made little difference. “Jacques’smore experienced, but Andrew Hall’s also done well,” he said. “We won’ttake any one of them lightly.”The key for us will be to bat for long periods of time. In these hotconditions, if we can keep their bowlers out there in the sun for a longtime, then that will make a difference. We had Anil [Kumble] who bowled 20fantastic overs for us, blocked up one end. It allowed me to rotate theother bowlers from the other end. We’ll have to bat well, and show thefight we did in the last Test match.”Kumble bowled the most overs in the day, and South Africa’s decision toignore spin may yet come back to haunt them. Paul Harris was the mainoption, but Dravid wasn’t about to be drawn into a debate on theopposition team-sheet. “To be honest, I’ve not seen their spinner, anddon’t know what he does,” he said. “Some of the boys who’ve played him incounty cricket said he bowls pretty okay. But it’s hard for me to commenton their side, and not fair either.”