da fazobetai： Both Ricky Ponting and Rahul Dravid, speaking to the media after the match, agreed that had not the rain intervened the result could have gone either team’s way
da bwin： Dileep Premachandran in Kuala Lumpur16-Sep-2006
Ponting: ‘It’s a shamethat the weather intervened. We will never know what could have happened,will we?’ © Getty Images
Another match, and another intervention from the rain, but this time bothIndia and Australia were left frustrated with no result possible. TheIndians had come back magnificently in the field to set themselves agettable target of 245, but once showers and the Duckworth-Lewis methodcame into play, it was Australia that held all the high cards, withMitchell Johnson’s inspired opening burst having the Indians reeling at 35for 5.”We probably were better placed at the final interruption, but at thehalfway stage, I think the Indians would have fancied their chances,” saidRicky Ponting, giving a fair appraisal of the situation. “It’s a shamethat the weather intervened. We will never know what could have happened,will we? When you come out suddenly needing 154 off 25, the approach andthe mindset is different. They tried a couple of big shots which didn’tcome off.”Rahul Dravid, whose team have yet to finish a game this season, wasvisibly agitated by the state of affairs. “It was not easy to keep therhythm and the momentum going,” said Dravid when asked about the revisedtarget of 170 from 29 overs. “It was a good comeback with the ball, and wethought 250 was gettable if we played the full 50 overs. But that didn’thappen. When you come back and need 6.5 to 7 runs an over, it’s not easy.But you can’t do anything about it.”At the end of the day, you can look back at 35 for five and say we gotaway with two points, but I’m disappointed that we didn’t get the full 50overs without an interruption. It wouldn’t have been easy chasing 245. Wewould have had to bat well, but at least we would have got a much bettergame.”Both captains were full of praise for Johnson, who now takes a flight homeas the Australians trim an 18-man squad to 15. “I’ve been impressed withhim for quite a while,” said Ponting. “I thought he was someone with theright attributes, and we saw today what he is capable of doing. Theconditions were in favour of the bowlers, there was a bit of swing andseam, but you still have to put the ball in the right areas.”He got us a couple of vital breakthroughs in the first game and tonight,he was brilliant. He’s got the pace, he’s a left-armer and he can swingit. That’s why we are all excited about him. The idea is to give him a fewgames under his belt. As far as I can see, he is improving every game, andan outing like tonight will do him a world of good.”Ponting was also clearly chuffed about the fact that Johnson knocked overDravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh, four days after having trappedBrian Lara leg before. “Those two are as good as they get,” said Ponting,when asked about the dismissals of Lara and Tendulkar. “He went around thepark a fair bit early on in the first game but then came back strongly;today, he did everything we asked of him and more. He will take a lot ofconfidence away from a performance like this.”Dravid was just as complimentary, though he suggested that the conditionshad played into Johnson’s hands. “He bowled well and put the ball in theright areas. The conditions were in his favour, he got to use the new balltwice and there were two starts for the batters.”He showed how to exploit the conditions. The new ball is very importanton tracks like this. The ball also does a fair bit in the evening,especially if it rains. Because of the rain, the wicket is under thecovers a lot and a lot of the moisture tends to come out. It will beinteresting to see how the track plays if the sun comes out, the moisturedries up and you get the full 50 overs in the evening.”
Dravid: ‘When you come back and need 6.5 to 7 runs an over, it’s not easy’ © Getty Images
He was also far more satisfied with his own bowlers. After being tonkedall over by West Indies in 20 overs before the rain came down, they cameback admirably against Australia, reining in the scoring after ShaneWatson had provided a blazing start. But while he was more than contentwith the spells from Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag – the two gaveaway just 69 in 20 overs – Irfan Pathan’s inability to strike any sort ofrhythm continued to be a worry.”You can swing the ball, but you need to put it in the right areas,” saidDravid, when asked why Pathan hadn’t been given the new ball. “We thoughtit was important to get off to a good start with the ball, especiallyagainst the Australians, and Munaf [Patel] and Ajit [Agarkar] have beenbowling well. It was paying off too before they took their chances and gotaway. We would like Irfan to bowl better, and we thought bowling at adifferent order might trigger something, but unfortunately, it didn’t comeoff today.”Australian’s decision to open with Watson certainly did. “It was veryimportant for us that Shane played like he did,” said Ponting. “It wasexactly what we were hoping for. He’s got good technique against the newball, but he showed today that he can play good and aggressive strokes aswell. He’s another one of the young guys that we are pinning our hopes on.If he keeps stacking up performances like this, it will be difficult tobring him down the order. We have got a bit of experimenting to do, wehave got [Phil] Jaques and [Matthew] Hayden and [Simon] Katich as well.It’s important to have the right balance, and Shane at the top of theorder gives us that balance.”But while the young guns might have stolen the plaudits, the performanceof an old master was just as eye-catching. Ponting positively beamed whenasked about Glenn McGrath’s opening salvo, and Dravid could barely containhis admiration. “He was fantastic,” said Dravid, with great candour. “Itwas a great lesson for a lot of our young seamers. To see him bowl aftersix months and pitch the ball exactly where he wanted to was awesome. It’snot always fun batting against him, but it’s nice to watch a greatcraftsman at work.”
