The Hindu : Sport : Rival captains indulge in one-upmanship

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Tuesday, Oct 14, 2008
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Rival captains indulge in one-upmanship

K.C. Vijaya Kumar

We dominated, says Ponting; Kumble feels India can win the series

— Photo: K.R. Deepak

WELL DONE MATE: Australian captain Ricky Ponting interacts with Sourav Ganguly after the first Test ended in a draw on Monday.

Bangalore: Ricky Ponting looked smug. Anil Kumble was combative. And both skippers believe that their respective teams have gained the upper hand as they head to Mohali for the second Test commencing on October 17.

Ponting was the first off the blocks and he fired the salvo about ‘domination’. “We dominated the match. We came out aggressive today morning and then put them in. But yes we were not good enough to win this match and the Indians were not good enough either to win,” the Australian skipper said.

“If Sehwag fired then they might have chased but once we got him, it was about getting regular wickets but Sachin and Laxman had that partnership,” Ponting said and then made a caustic remark: “I am not surprised with the way the Indians played today, they play a lot of drawn matches.”

Defending White

Ponting defended his bowlers, especially leg-spinner Cameron White. “In terms of a quality spinner, we have a long way to go but I was impressed with the way White bowled. This experience will help him and also Shane Watson, Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson.

“There was talk about our inexperienced guys but they did well,” Ponting said and added that White is an aggressive bowler.

“White is someone like Anil Kumble. Lots of side spin, over spin and basically wicket to wicket. Now you don’t call Anil less aggressive would you?” Ponting said.

He also supported wicket keeper Brad Haddin despite the 39 byes that marred the scores. “On this pitch it gets difficult. I have never kept wickets and I don’t think you have either so it is better that we don’t comment,” Ponting said.

Ponting, however, admitted that the 80-run eighth-wicket partnership between Zaheer and Harbhajan Singh in India’s first innings, robbed the Aussies of some momentum and added that the “pitch did not deteriorate the way we expected.”

Calling the shots

Later Anil Kumble expressed firm belief in India calling the shots in the next set of matches. “I am pretty satisfied with the way we played especially after losing the toss on a wicket like this that has cracked up a bit,” the Indian captain said.

“If we had won the toss we would have fancied our chances bowling last but overall the performance was good.

“The batters did reasonably well and Zaheer and Harbhajan did well in that crucial partnership,” Kumble said.

Kumble said that the Indians would have chased 299 had Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir clicked. “If Sehwag and Gambhir had got a good start then we would have given it a crack. They got out but we did well and I think we can win the series,” Kumble said.

Appraising his own performance, Kumble candidly said: “All the other bowlers played their part and I did play my part as a captain but I want to come into the bit about playing my part as a player in this series. One bad match doesn’t make a bad cricketer.”

Fab four?

And on the Indian middle order, Kumble said: “I am happy with their performance and I hope they all get hundreds in the next game.” He also made known his displeasure at the stereo-typing the Indian middle order as the ‘fab four’. “Would you please explain what this fab four is?” fired back Kumble.

Kumble also termed the scrutiny around V.V.S. Laxman as unfortunate.

“Laxman is a true champion, has played 97 Tests and had a large role in our winning moments. This axe on his shoulder is not done,” Kumble said.

About his home pitch, Kumble said: “The Bangalore pitch is not what it was ten years back, the soil has changed and it cracks up a bit these days.”

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