Monday, June 25, 2007

One-day against Ireland

The comprehensive 9-wicket win in the rain-hit one-dayer against Ireland notwithstanding, Indian captain Rahul Dravid identified areas for the team to improve.Dravid said the visitors were found wanting a bit in bowling at the death as Ireland, reduced to 111 for 6, went on to post 193 with Niall O'Brien and captain Trent Johnston adding 48 runs for the seventh wicket.

"We got wickets upfront and backed it up with good batting. But bowling at the death, we lacked a bit of experience there. Hopefully we can improve in that department as the season progresses," Dravid said after the match.Sourav Ganguly (75 no) and Gautam Gambhir (80 n.o.) shared a 164-run stand for the unbroken second wicket as India overhauled the revised target of 171 with four overs to spare.

"Small totals can be tricky. And we did not have enough practice in the conditions going into the match. The two of them really batted well; showed good common sense," Dravid said.

"For a young leg-spinner, he gripped the ball very well in these conditions. He is only going to grow as he plays more matches," the skipper said.

"We had enough runs on the board to be competitive. We got Sachin Tendulkar [Images] out early but after that their experience showed. Ours was an inexperienced team," he said

"I have batted at that spot for my state team. So it wasn't a problem," he said

No comments: