JOIN USFavourites tag is no hindrance: Srinath
While the Protean conditions suited the pacemen, their job will be doubly difficult on the docile sub-continental pitches. “It’s not about one fast bowler,” remarked Srinath stressing on the need to work as a team which yielded handsome results for the Men in Blue.
“Zaheer, Ashish and Munaf (Patel) all will have to work in tandem. If one bowler has an off-day then another will have to step up. Within the team there are teams, you have a fast bowlers team (fast bowlers and spinners form together a team). Batsmen within themselves will have a few teams; like the top three, middle-order and then the tail. There are various combinations to win matches, not just the fast bowlers,” he elaborated.
A lot obviosuly will depend on Zaheer, India’s spearhead for some time now. “He is a champion bowler,” noted Srinath, an ICC match raferee now. “He has had injuries and understands how to come back from setbacks. That is the lesson one will learn over a period of time and that comes with the experience. He is the leader of the pack.”
Srinath felt that the tag of favourites wasn’t going affect India much. “It’s good to have the favourites tag. Probably the underdogs will not have much pressure (and hence lack of intensity). Australia were the favourites for the last three World Cups and they performed as per expectations. I think this time it is India’s turn. It also raises the hopes of the Indians and keep the players on their toes.
“Home conditions, crowd support and with the talent that they have, this Indian team definitely has a winning combination. Having said that they have to play some hard cricket all through the tournament to win the World Cup,” he explained.
Srinath, the secretary of the KSCA now, also had a word of advice on handling home pressure. “Pressure will be a notch higher for India,” he pointed out while talking about his own experience.
“In 1996, we lost some crucial games but still we progressed to the knock-out stages. I can still feel the pressure being felt at different stages in 1996. But when I played in England it was a different kind of pressure for me as I knew I had to deliver as a senior player. So the pressure a senior player feels will be different from that of a junior.”
Given the long duration of the tournament, Srinath said, it was important to keep focussed on the job ahead.
“The event goes on for one-and-half months, so even when a team has won a match, it should always look to do well in the next match. How quickly a team switches to the next match will be important. Sometimes even when you do well in the previous match it doesn’t matter... You should always look to win the next match,” he thought.