Indian
captain MS Dhoni along with coach Duncan Fletcher addressing the media
conference, prior to its departure to Australia, in Chennai. (PTI Photo)
CHENNAI: Australia are clearly not the side they used to be. With a
loss to New Zealand on Monday, the skeletons are tumbling out of the
cupboard, but the Indian team is still not ready to take things for
granted.
Skipper MS Dhoni and coach Duncan Fletcher have been in the profession long enough to know that an Australian team going through a rebuilding phase can really be dangerous. Wasn't the team that won the 1987 World Cup going through a similar phase?
For 40 minutes on Monday at the team hotel, the Indian media tried its best to make Dhoni say that this is their best chance to win a series Down Under. And you just couldn't get it out of him. "When we went into the series against West Indies without Harbhajan Singh, no one knew what R Ashwin was capable of in Test cricket. And see where he is now...How do you know that Australia don't have similar talent in their line-up who is just waiting to explode?" Dhoni said, when asked whether this is the weakest Australian attack they have ever faced.
Dhoni has been to Australia once before. It was a well-contested series and when the skipper was asked to compare the two Australian sides, he was again diplomatic. "Yes, they had a few legends in their side, but then so did we...Anil Kumble was in that team. So the dynamics keep changing for both the teams."
Fletcher, though, conceded that this Aussie team is not at their best. "It's true that they are out of form and we'll have to keep them out of form. But don't count an Australian team out when it's going through a rebuilding phase," the Indian coach warned.
It was evident that the coach and the captain want to ensure that there should not be any complacency creeping into Indian ranks. But they made it clear that the Indian team is completely out of the trauma of a horrifying English summer, when they were thrashed 0-4 in the Test series. How is this side different from the one that lost to England? "The biggest plus is that this team doesn't have the injury worries and selecting the XI won't be too difficult...Most of the guys have got the rest and are going to Australia fresh," Fletcher said.
The immediate query was on Zaheer Khan's fitness and the Zimbabwe-born coach said that the reports that he has got are
positive. "He has looked good in the spells he bowled in Mumbai. Then there are a couple of practice games which will be crucial. We hope that he will be at his best during the Test matches."
And with the likes of Ishant Sharma "fresh" and Umesh Yadav "bowling in the 140s", the team management has every reason to believe that this team is ready for any challenge thrown at them. Virender Sehwag coming back to form has also been a big boost for the team and Dhoni is looking forward for some fireworks from him. "Once he gets going, things become easy... And then there's Gautam (Gambhir) too. So things look good for us," Dhoni said.
Skipper MS Dhoni and coach Duncan Fletcher have been in the profession long enough to know that an Australian team going through a rebuilding phase can really be dangerous. Wasn't the team that won the 1987 World Cup going through a similar phase?
For 40 minutes on Monday at the team hotel, the Indian media tried its best to make Dhoni say that this is their best chance to win a series Down Under. And you just couldn't get it out of him. "When we went into the series against West Indies without Harbhajan Singh, no one knew what R Ashwin was capable of in Test cricket. And see where he is now...How do you know that Australia don't have similar talent in their line-up who is just waiting to explode?" Dhoni said, when asked whether this is the weakest Australian attack they have ever faced.
Dhoni has been to Australia once before. It was a well-contested series and when the skipper was asked to compare the two Australian sides, he was again diplomatic. "Yes, they had a few legends in their side, but then so did we...Anil Kumble was in that team. So the dynamics keep changing for both the teams."
Fletcher, though, conceded that this Aussie team is not at their best. "It's true that they are out of form and we'll have to keep them out of form. But don't count an Australian team out when it's going through a rebuilding phase," the Indian coach warned.
It was evident that the coach and the captain want to ensure that there should not be any complacency creeping into Indian ranks. But they made it clear that the Indian team is completely out of the trauma of a horrifying English summer, when they were thrashed 0-4 in the Test series. How is this side different from the one that lost to England? "The biggest plus is that this team doesn't have the injury worries and selecting the XI won't be too difficult...Most of the guys have got the rest and are going to Australia fresh," Fletcher said.
The immediate query was on Zaheer Khan's fitness and the Zimbabwe-born coach said that the reports that he has got are
positive. "He has looked good in the spells he bowled in Mumbai. Then there are a couple of practice games which will be crucial. We hope that he will be at his best during the Test matches."
And with the likes of Ishant Sharma "fresh" and Umesh Yadav "bowling in the 140s", the team management has every reason to believe that this team is ready for any challenge thrown at them. Virender Sehwag coming back to form has also been a big boost for the team and Dhoni is looking forward for some fireworks from him. "Once he gets going, things become easy... And then there's Gautam (Gambhir) too. So things look good for us," Dhoni said.
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