‘Experimentation? I call it strategy’

It was a free-for-all, virtually. The media not only had the stars to talk to but also had the luxury to be choosy in what they called an open house . Here are Manish Kumar’s picks.

India: Expect more shuffling in the batting order

These days the Indian team’s press conferences evoke flustered looks from the players. It’s a familiar sight to see each one of them being quizzed about Greg Chappell’s ‘experimentation’, which many feel is taking too long to produce results.

On Sunday, skipper Rahul Dravid decided to drop his usual diplomatic stance: “I am very happy with the response that I am getting from the players. They know that they are going to improve with the system that we’ve been trying for sometime.”

Dravid, however, added that self-improvement was the key. “If they are one-dimensional, they will stagnate. How will they survive?” he asked. “Of course, we have a clear picture. Just because we don’t speak about it openly doesn’t mean we don’t know what we are doing.”

Chappell had no luck as far as support from the media was concerned. Even before he could settle down on his seat, the grilling started. Chappell even lost his cool on a couple of occasions.

“What you call experimentation, I call it strategy. It’s actually looking for the best combination to handle different opponents in different conditions,” was his argument.

Australia: Do tags really matter?

Look, who’s saying it. Australian captain Ricky Ponting said on Sunday that Australia may have been the favourites for every tournament in the last 6-7 years but it doesn’t really matter. “What matters is how well we are prepared. You could be the World Cup champions but that doesn’t mean you can win everything. Every tournament is different. It depends on how you play on the given day,” said Ponting.

Inspiring words from the Aussie captain, which is why his team continues to evoke awe amongst its opponents. Year after year, there seems to be no dearth of finely-tuned newcomers from Australia who take the world by storm.

As their latest sensation, Michael Hussey, modestly explained: “The standard of our domestic cricket is so high that we are trained to deal with any tough situation. By the time we make it to international cricket, we are hungry.”

Michael Clarke, another youngster who made it good a couple of seasons back, nods in agreement. “That’s why I had no problem in succeeding at the international level,” he says. They have also learnt from Glenn McGrath, who believes that taking regular breaks from the game is refreshing for his career.

“I have been training hard. My goal is to just improve with each game. I have enough experience to handle bowling in any type of condition,” says the veteran paceman.

South Africa: Quietly confident

The second-ranked ODI team also seems to be the silent favourites for the title. It’s an altogether different character and confidence that South Africa have attained after successfully chasing 438 runs against the mighty Australians in a ODI earlier this year.

Recalling the victory, speedster Makhaya Ntini says, “That victory united South Africa and brought people together.” Wicketkeeper Mark Boucher adds that it was an immense boost to the side whose fortunes had taken a sudden plunge a couple of years back.

Actually, Graeme Smith’s team will be trying to restore its pride and prestige in the Champions Trophy. In the last two years, their script towards winning has been undertaken quietly and through plenty of hard work.

Coach Micky Arthur rules out any experimentation. “We are not going to experiment in the tournament. There is huge prestige involved and we are taking it seriously.”

On the other hand, Smith is of the opinion that flexibility is good to handle tough situations, but each team “should have a basic structure”. He said a majority of his players in the batting order had a strike rate between 80-85 percent and that gave them enough confidence that they can accelerate when required. With the return of veteran Jacques Kallis to the side, Smith has another ace going for him.

England: Still banking on Ashes triumph

Sometimes you wonder if the sun has indeed set upon the British empire. They want you to believe that cricket still revolves around England.

Take for instance the brouhaha over the Ashes involving England’s traditional clash with Australia, slated to take place later in 2006, when actually the Champions Trophy is the second-most important event after the World Cup.

Naturally, at the media session on Sunday, there was a barrage of questions on the issue but the verbal bouncers were handled well by the English players, including the new faces. From star batsman Kevin Pietersen to young pacer Sajjid Mahmood, they took a diplomatic line and finally said that though the Ashes was huge, the CT was also equally important.

This English side seems to be going overboard about their performance in the ODI series at home against the wobbly Pakistan team. Star batsman Pietersen even remarked, “We showed great character. Inzy has more caps than most of our players put together.”

“We had a good ODI series against Pakistan recently. We bounced back against a very good side in good form and that gives us confidence,” all-rounder summed up his team’s prospects.

The stats are not wrong but as for showing character, England will get plenty of opportunities to show it in coming days.