The Hindu : Sport : `We learnt from our mistakes'

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Wednesday, Sep 20, 2006
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`We learnt from our mistakes'

Special Correspondent

Bravo says Tendulkar and Dravid are the backbone of Team India

Kuala Lumpur: West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo ensured on Monday that his side didn't self-destruct again. His off-driven six at the death revealed what a dab hand he is. In similar circumstances, he had double-bluffed Yuvraj Singh with a slower delivery in Jamaica, starting a five-match West Indies streak against India. Bravo's courage in his convictions bodes well for a Caribbean future sans Brian Lara.

The 22-year-old spoke to newsmen ahead of Wednesday's clash against India.

(Excerpts):

On batting in crunch situations:

It brings the best out of me. I also like batting where I have enough time to play in myself. I'm not the type of batsman who will go in and smash the ball around the park from the beginning. I need to get some balls under my belt for me to get my rhythm. Those who followed the game might say I struggled in the beginning, but batting with Brian (Lara) soaked up that pressure.

On whether India will be under pressure:

Yeah, I think the Indians will be under a lot of pressure. I must say that they are a very good one-day team and they must be coming to win as well. If they don't win, I think they won't qualify and that's bad news for India. But, we are looking to win as well. The more wins we get leading up to the ICC Champions Trophy and the World Cup, the better.

On bowling to Tendulkar:

It was a great experience — the first time I played against him, the first time I saw him batting live. I mean, he's a world-class batsman, and it only makes me a better player and a better person to bowl to him. He played very well that day, he picked up my slower ball. I didn't get anything right that day, but I wasn't really putting myself under any pressure because as I have said already he's one of the best in the world. I have another game against him, and I'll go about it differently. The team's game plan is to get him early. He's the backbone of the team — him and Rahul (Dravid) — and I think if we get both of them early, they are in for some trouble.

On what the win against Australia means:

It gave us a lot of confidence. We missed out on the first game, we had an opportunity to beat them as well. But, we learnt from our mistakes. That's the good thing, we are a very young team, but we also learn quickly. We know that whenever we get ourselves into those situations again, we know how to come out of it. That's one of the things we go over and over again in our team meeting, our training sessions. So, that day we don't panic.

On why his wrist was iced:

It's just an old injury I had. Diving forward on Monday hurt my hand, and on Tuesday when I woke up, I felt a lot of pain. I thought the best thing is to ice it. Get the arm ready for Wednesday. Everything is fine, nothing serious.

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