By Anil KumbleThe last time I played in Ahmedabad was for my 100th Test, and thelast two times I've played here, I've got 10 wickets in the game, so Idon't want to just sit back and watch. I would obviously like to playhere in a Test we need to win.
But at the same time, at the time of writing on Wednesday, I'm notsure I'm a 100 per cent ready. I'm going to take a final calldepending on how I feel but I know I that if there is even a 10 percent chance that I can last the game and make a difference, I willwant to play. On the other hand of course, I need to know that — to bepractical, and fair to the team and to myself, as an individual and asthe captain.
With both Ishant and me unsure at the moment, there will be a fairamount of discussion on what possible combinations we could go withtomorrow. We will of course, need to get 20 wickets to get a resultand do that also by getting a big score.
Obviously we'll miss Sachin, but it's an opportunity for someone elseto utilize the opportunity and do well, whether that someone is Irfanor Yuvraj.
But whoever it is, I'm sure we'll go in with a positive frame of mind,that's really the hallmark of my team and one big change of late, thispositivity and a feeling that whoever walks into the park, will do sothinking he can come up to scratch.
Our gameplan? We'll have to put pressure in the first innings. We'llhave to ensure early inroads into the South African batting line-upand look to Sehwag and Jaffer to provide a start, like they did lasttime.There's been some talk of the South Africans having a plan for Viru.
I'm sure they do, but whenever people who have suffered at Viru'shands have had a plan for him, he's more than coped with it. So theyare welcome to try out their plans.
As a captain, you have a basic task in front of you, to try and figureout how to get the right result. In this case, like in Chennai, theissue is how best to do this on a flat wicket where there's littleassistance for the bowlers. So I know we need to have creative ideas,do something different while bowling.
In the bargain, we might give away some extra runs. Ultimately though,we also need to restrict the flow of runs to create pressure in anyform of the game. So it's a balance we need to figure out and as acaptain, it's my job to figure that.
It's always nice to have an extra bowling option but you also need tolook at the conditions, the composition and figure out whether anextra option will create an impact based on the conditions. So willthat extra bowler who comes in make a difference or is it betterhaving an extra bat?
At the end of the day everyone has to click. In cases like thisthough, where it is really hot, you do need to remain fresh, so thatis the main factor that can favour an extra bowler.
As I mentioned, this wicket is flat, with a bit of grass and isprobably unlikely to crumble early. But we're going to get out thereand do our best. One thing we've always reiterated in team meetings isthat we try and take the pitch and weather out of the equation, sowe're going to try and do just that.
And, like I said earlier, this team is high on confidence and spirit.We have a few ideas, we'll try and make it more interesting, think outof the box. I believe we can do it.
Hawkeye / Chivach Sports