Sport | Cricket
Dravid shocked by defeat
Indian skipper Rahul Dravid did not expect India to lose so badly. He candidly admitted that his batsmen failed against the new ball.
- By K.R. Nayar, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:32 May 3, 2009
Karachi: Indian skipper Rahul Dravid did not expect India to lose so badly.
He candidly admitted that his batsmen failed against the new ball.
He also acknowledged the attack of the Pakistan pacers.
GULF NEWS: What went wrong in this Test?
Dravid: When we started off we were in a good position. Kamran Akmal and Abdul Razzaq played fantastically under pressure.
We would not have been in such a pressure position in the second innings had we got them out for a small total in the first innings.
Which department let you down, your batting or bowling?
We did not play the Pakistan new ball attack. In both the innings we did not get a good start. In the second innings we also did not bowl well.
Don't you think your decision to play without regular openers was a mistake?
Without regular openers in the earlier Test we did have good starts in this series.
We played the best combination we could. Hereafter we will play the best batsmen in the best positions.
Don't you also think that Indians are suspect to seam attack?
Our batsmen had showed their talent in countries like England and Australia. All that I can say is that on this day we were not good. They bowled better.
With Tendulkar failing in two Tests, what do you feel about his form?
I do not like to single out a player and evaluate him. We fought with our backs to the wall but we did not succeed.
But did you expect such a collapse?
In the earlier two Tests our top order batsmen had scored. So we did not expect it to happen here.
What about Yuvraj's innings?
It was brilliant. He had hit 45 in the first innings and a century to make up for the set back he had in the last Test.
It would be nice if it would keep going.
Is it the most disappointing defeat of your career?
Any Test defeat is disappointing. It is not that it is particular severe because it happened to be against Pakistan.
Don't you think this defeat will affect the morale of your team?
No. We will work hard. Ours is a young team but we will try our best knowing well that Pakistan is a strong team.
What do you feel about Ganguly's innings?
It is sad that back home in India too much importance is being given to individual players.
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