Chittagong, May 15 (UNI) Even as Indian skipper Rahul Dravid shored up the positives from the ODI series, he made it a point to mention that there was scope for improvement in all aspects of the game.
Talking to mediapersons after the washout of the third and last ODI of the series here, Dravid said, ''There are several positives that we are carrying forward with us. These are the batting of M S Dhoni and Dinesh Kaarthick at the time when everybody thought we had lost the first ODI. The all round bowling performance in the second ODI and the reinvention of Gautam Gambhir.'' It was a superb century plus partnership between M S Dhoni and Kaarthik that helped India win the first ODI after being reduced to five wickets within 100 runs. However, in the second ODI, the bowlers displayed their mettle with Zaheer Khan picking up two wickets and Piyush Chawla bagging three on debut. Meanwhile, dashing left-hamder Gambhir also found his lost touch to hit the second century of his career.
Asked about the fielding, Team India skipper said, ''We are improving with each game,'' adding, ''There is no scope to be satisfied. We have to keep bettering everyday and only then a side can be at its best. We have scope for improvement in all departments and we are all working for it.'' When asked if he was disappointed at being denied a 3-0 sweep of the series, Dravid said, ''It's a disappointment that the match was not played. But weather is something that is beyond our control.
And the win was as comprehensive as possible. There were two one-dayers and we won both.'' ''The rain has robbed us of everything except familiarization.
But hopefully it will get better within the next couple of days and we will be able to get a little practice and a good test match,'' he added.
Expressing confidence over the performance of his side in the longer version of the game, Dravid said, ''We are a good Test team and we have done well against them. We are aware of their improvements.
But we expect to do well in the two Tests.'' He, however, refused to divulge any combination for the test team at the present moment.
Concerned over pacer S Sreesanth's fitness he said, ''John Gloster was supposed to take his fitness test today evening or tomorrow morning depending on the weather. He was supposed to do it today morning, but the outfield discouraged us.
''We are monitoring his progress. If he passes the fitness test then its okay. Otherwise we might retain another pacer from the ODI squad. But nothing has been decided as yet,'' he added.
UNI
Talking to mediapersons after the washout of the third and last ODI of the series here, Dravid said, ''There are several positives that we are carrying forward with us. These are the batting of M S Dhoni and Dinesh Kaarthick at the time when everybody thought we had lost the first ODI. The all round bowling performance in the second ODI and the reinvention of Gautam Gambhir.'' It was a superb century plus partnership between M S Dhoni and Kaarthik that helped India win the first ODI after being reduced to five wickets within 100 runs. However, in the second ODI, the bowlers displayed their mettle with Zaheer Khan picking up two wickets and Piyush Chawla bagging three on debut. Meanwhile, dashing left-hamder Gambhir also found his lost touch to hit the second century of his career.
Asked about the fielding, Team India skipper said, ''We are improving with each game,'' adding, ''There is no scope to be satisfied. We have to keep bettering everyday and only then a side can be at its best. We have scope for improvement in all departments and we are all working for it.'' When asked if he was disappointed at being denied a 3-0 sweep of the series, Dravid said, ''It's a disappointment that the match was not played. But weather is something that is beyond our control.
And the win was as comprehensive as possible. There were two one-dayers and we won both.'' ''The rain has robbed us of everything except familiarization.
But hopefully it will get better within the next couple of days and we will be able to get a little practice and a good test match,'' he added.
Expressing confidence over the performance of his side in the longer version of the game, Dravid said, ''We are a good Test team and we have done well against them. We are aware of their improvements.
But we expect to do well in the two Tests.'' He, however, refused to divulge any combination for the test team at the present moment.
Concerned over pacer S Sreesanth's fitness he said, ''John Gloster was supposed to take his fitness test today evening or tomorrow morning depending on the weather. He was supposed to do it today morning, but the outfield discouraged us.
''We are monitoring his progress. If he passes the fitness test then its okay. Otherwise we might retain another pacer from the ODI squad. But nothing has been decided as yet,'' he added.
UNI
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