Advertisement

Help
You are here: Rediff Home » India » Cricket » PTI » Report
Search:  Rediff.com The Web
Advertisement
  Discuss this Article   |      Email this Article   |      Print this Article

Both teams start even: Dravid
Get Cricket updates:What's this?
Advertisement
January 02, 2006 21:02 IST

Indian captain Rahul Dravid [Images] said Pakistan's ploy of targeting individuals in his side would not work as his team no longer depended on any one player to pull off victories.

Speaking in context of India's trip to Pakistan this week for a Test and one-day series, Dravid felt it would be a fallacy if Inzamam-ul Haq's men depended too much on Shoaib Akhtar [Images] and targeted just a couple of batsmen in the Indian team.

Dravid said as far as India are concerned, they would focus on the entire Pakistani team.

"Pakistan have got some good players all round. I think if we focus on just one or two players in the team, we will be making a mistake and I think if they focus on one or two players in our team, they will be making a mistake because we have shown over the last month that a lot of our guys are performing," he told reporters in Bangalore on Monday.

"It is not just one or two players who do well. So, we are not going to focus on one or two individuals. It is going to be about the team," he said.

Asked whether Akhtar would be a factor, Dravid said: "Well, no. Whole team is a factor. You can make a mistake of focusing on one or two individuals."

Akhtar has reportedly said that Sachin Tendulkar [Images] and Rahul Dravid are scared of his bowling. Dravid also said he did not believe in all the talk about being favourites or underdogs.

"I don't believe in these, someone being favourites and someone being underdogs. Both teams start even. Whichever team plays well, wins."

He said when India and Pakistan start the series, the fact that Pakistan did well against England [Images] and India against Sri Lanka [Images] would count for nothing.

"It does not matter what you have done in the past. The series starts 0-0. It's irrelevant really. You can get confidence from it [that you have done well in the recent series)], and see positives. But once the match starts, it does not matter. It is really all about what you do on that particular day."

Dravid said India's last tour of Pakistan had been fantastic and the team learned that one has to play tough cricket to win in the neighbouring country.

He also said the morale of the Indian team is high after some recent good performances.

"Last couple of months have been really good. There have been good performance from all the players."

 


© Copyright 2008 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.
 Email this Article      Print this Article

© 2008 Rediff.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer | Feedback