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Dravid voices concern over excess cricket
Dravid voices concern over excess cricket
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/apr182006/sports1955352006417.asp
Calling it the most difficult season personally in terms of the mere quantum of cricket played, Rahul Dravid said he had nevertheless enjoyed the various challenges that had come his way, but added that the players had spoken to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and requested that extra load be not put on the players.
Calling it the most difficult season personally in terms of the mere quantum of cricket played, Rahul Dravid said he had nevertheless enjoyed the various challenges that had come his way, but added that the players had spoken to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and requested that extra load be not put on the players.
"I have been playing since July without a break. Some of the other boys had a break for about a month but during that time, I was playing in Australia in the Super Series," Dravid said at the launch of the DLF Cup series against Pakistan here on Monday. "It has been eight months of continuous cricket, and it has been one of the toughest seasons of my career. The only real break will come after the West Indies, but it has been an enjoyable journey as well, I have enjoyed the challenges."
Asked if the players had made their concerns at the amount of cricket being played known to the BCCI, he replied, "We have spoken to the Board. They have assured us that there will be no extra load on us. Some of the events have already been planned, we are aware of that, but we have also made the request them not to place extra load on us and the Board has promised to heed our request."
Dravid said the fact that India had won their last four games against Pakistan did not necessarily make them favourites for the two-match series here. "It's hard to start a series against Pakistan as favourites. They are a very good one-day team, and we are now playing at a new stadium, on a very new wicket. We respect them, it will be an even contest. While we did beat them 4-1 in Pakistan, we did that by playing good, hard cricket. We have do the the same here as well."
Laughing off suggestions that the team was peaking too early, Dravid pointed out, "I'd rather be winning games. It's hard to say if someone is peaking early or not. What do we do, do we lose games? If we win, people are saying we are peaking too early, if we lose, people say we are not good enough. I'd rather we won than lost."
The topic inevitably veered to Virender Sehwag and Mohammad Kaif's lack of form, and how important the next two games were to the struggling pair. "Every game of cricket is important," Dravid replied with customary caution. "We have a lot of faith in them. We are getting a fair idea of the kind of squad that we think will take us into the future. The pieces are falling in place, and Sehwag and Kaif are very important part of our plans going ahead into the future."
Dravid said while Mohammad Asif was a key bowler in the Pakistani scheme of things, India wouldn't fuss too much over the paceman. "He is a good bowler, he has had success against us and again in Sri Lanka. But we played him quite well in the one-dayers in Pakistan. Pakistan have a few other good bowlers as well, we don't want to spend too much time thinking about just one player."
Dravid voices concern over excess cricket
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/apr182006/sports1955352006417.asp
Calling it the most difficult season personally in terms of the mere quantum of cricket played, Rahul Dravid said he had nevertheless enjoyed the various challenges that had come his way, but added that the players had spoken to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and requested that extra load be not put on the players.
Calling it the most difficult season personally in terms of the mere quantum of cricket played, Rahul Dravid said he had nevertheless enjoyed the various challenges that had come his way, but added that the players had spoken to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and requested that extra load be not put on the players.
"I have been playing since July without a break. Some of the other boys had a break for about a month but during that time, I was playing in Australia in the Super Series," Dravid said at the launch of the DLF Cup series against Pakistan here on Monday. "It has been eight months of continuous cricket, and it has been one of the toughest seasons of my career. The only real break will come after the West Indies, but it has been an enjoyable journey as well, I have enjoyed the challenges."
Asked if the players had made their concerns at the amount of cricket being played known to the BCCI, he replied, "We have spoken to the Board. They have assured us that there will be no extra load on us. Some of the events have already been planned, we are aware of that, but we have also made the request them not to place extra load on us and the Board has promised to heed our request."
Dravid said the fact that India had won their last four games against Pakistan did not necessarily make them favourites for the two-match series here. "It's hard to start a series against Pakistan as favourites. They are a very good one-day team, and we are now playing at a new stadium, on a very new wicket. We respect them, it will be an even contest. While we did beat them 4-1 in Pakistan, we did that by playing good, hard cricket. We have do the the same here as well."
Laughing off suggestions that the team was peaking too early, Dravid pointed out, "I'd rather be winning games. It's hard to say if someone is peaking early or not. What do we do, do we lose games? If we win, people are saying we are peaking too early, if we lose, people say we are not good enough. I'd rather we won than lost."
The topic inevitably veered to Virender Sehwag and Mohammad Kaif's lack of form, and how important the next two games were to the struggling pair. "Every game of cricket is important," Dravid replied with customary caution. "We have a lot of faith in them. We are getting a fair idea of the kind of squad that we think will take us into the future. The pieces are falling in place, and Sehwag and Kaif are very important part of our plans going ahead into the future."
Dravid said while Mohammad Asif was a key bowler in the Pakistani scheme of things, India wouldn't fuss too much over the paceman. "He is a good bowler, he has had success against us and again in Sri Lanka. But we played him quite well in the one-dayers in Pakistan. Pakistan have a few other good bowlers as well, we don't want to spend too much time thinking about just one player."