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Home > Cricket > World Cup 2003 > News > Report



March 14, 2003 16:53 IST

Rahul DravidCommenting on Australia's performance in the World Cup, India vice-captain Rahul Dravid says the only way they can be beaten is by putting them under pressure.

"They are playing great cricket and seem to have answers to any problem thrown at them by the opposition. Everytime they are in trouble, they find someone to pull the team through.

"One guesses the only way is to put them under pressure;  what New Zealand and England did against them."

Dravid, who rates Glenn McGrath, Wasim Akram, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan and Shaun Pollock as the five toughest bowlers he has faced, said his most memorable moments in one-day cricket came only recently.

He said India's drubbing of England and Pakistan in the league stage of the World Cup were the most memorable  games of his career while his best one-day innings was against England in the first match of the NatWest Trophy in England last year.

"I made 70-odd in the game. We were four down for very little and we were chasing 280. Yuvraj (Singh) and I saw the team through. I really enjoyed that knock."

 

In a bid to revamp the team after its disastrous World Cup campaign, the Pakistan Cricket Board may drop captain Waqar Younis and out-of-form batsman Inzamam-ul Haq for the forthcoming triangular series in Sharjah and appoint Rashid Latif the new skipper.

The PCB officials appear to have decided to drop some of the senior members of the World Cup squad for the Sharjah meet, which also involves South Africa and Sri Lanka, and apppoint veteran wicketkeeper Rashid Latif to lead the team, media reports said.

Reports say the Board initially toyed with the idea of appointing middle order batsman Younis Khan as captain but his recent brawl with Inzamam while playing football before the crucial World Cup match against Zimbabwe forced a rethink.

Latif changed his plan to retire after the World Cup and decided to carry on, perhaps after receiving hints that he has a chance to lead the team in the immediate future. His decision would hurt the return of former skipper and wicketkeeper Moin Khan, who has been waiting in the wings.

A team of pitch experts is working to repair the slow St George's Park wicket to provide a feast of runs in next week's World Cup semi-final.

The review of the pitch, which hosts the semi-final on Tuesday, follows criticism from Australian captain Ricky Ponting after the defending champions escaped defeat twice -- against England and then New Zealand on the bowler-friendly surface.

The review is being carried out by Hilbert Smit, chairman of the South African groundsmen's association, and Brian Basson, the South African cricket board's director of cricket operations.

They are assisted by Adrian Carter, the groundsman at the venue, and Neil Tainton, a World Cup consultant on wickets, in a bid to prepare a good batting surface.

"I don't want Hilbert to help prepare St George's Park as if it was Centurion Park because conditions are different," Carter told the Sapa news agency.

"But I'll be calling on his expertise and advice to see if we can get a bit more pace out of the surface."

Carter dismissed the wide-held belief that that the pitch at the St George's Park had always played low and slow.

"Last year's match between South Africa and the Aussies produced in excess of 650 runs, so let's hope it's another belter on Tuesday," he said.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will not go to South Africa to cheer the Indian cricket team if it reaches the  World Cup final on March 23, Minister of State for External Affairs Digvijay Singh said.

"The Prime Minister will be with us," Singh, who is also the president of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), said, when asked about the invitation to the Prime Minister, to be the chief guest at the closing ceremony of the World Cup Shotgun shooting championship on March 22.

"They (media) are free to report. You are talking to the External Affairs Minister and I should know where the PM is going," he said, in response to reports that Vajpayee might fly to Johannesburg for the World Cup final.

The dream run of the Indian cricket team in the World Cup has prompted the Board of Control for Cricket in India to announce a handsome cash award of Rs 18.70 million and promised to increase the award four-fold if it wins the Cup.

"Reaching the semi-final is no mean achievement and, therefore, the Board of Control for Cricket in India will pay Rs 1.87 crore to the 15 players of the team as reward," BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya announced on Thursday.

Dalmiya said the reward would be doubled to Rs 37.50 million if the team reaches the final and increased to Rs 75 million if India regaines the World Cup after a gap of 20 years.

As per the award details, each of the 15 players of the Indian team would get Rs 1.25 million for reaching the semi-final and an additional Rs 1.25 million for the team's entry into the final. Each of them would get a total of Rs five million  if India wins the World Cup.

Dalmiya said team coach John Wright, physiotherapist Andrew Leipus and fitness trainer Adrian Le Roux would also be suitably rewarded after the World Cup.

Saeed AnwarPakistan opener Saeed Anwar has reversed his decision to retire from international cricket, saying he is acting on the advise of family and friends.

In a statement, Anwar said: "I have consulted my family,  friends and religious scholars, and on their advice have decided to continue my international cricket. I have conveyed my decision to the cricket board."

Anwar, who managed to shrug off his poor form and scored a century in the World Cup match against India, earned a great deal of respect with his performances from the PCB and cricket fans at home.

Earlier, he had announced his retirement from all forms of cricket after Pakistan's disastrous World Cup campaign. Now, he is expected to be selected for the trination one-day series in Sharjah, starting April 1, also featuring Sri Lanka and and South Africa.



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