Ahmedabad, Dec 6: Ravi Rampaul claimed a four-for, including the early wickets of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir off consecutive deliveries, to help West Indies win the third ODI against India here. In the post-match press conference, the Man-of-the-Match spoke about bowling in Indian conditions and the 16-run win that has helped his team stay alive in the five-match series.
Excerpts from the media interaction:
On whether the last five overs of WI’s innings or the two early breakthroughs made the difference
I think it was the whole start of our bowling innings. We started positively [and] we started picking early wickets with the new ball and just kept it tight in the middle there. Rohit Sharma played really well. We just kept our faith and stuck to our team plan. The early wickets really helped because [we wanted] to get into the Indian middle-order as quickly as possible.
On the strategy for the next two matches
To win basically [is the plan]. We’ve finally got a victory so [the strategy is to] just to stick to our team plans, go out to the next venue with confidence and continue to win.
On bowling on Indian pitches
It’s similar to the Caribbean island that I am from, Trinidad [& Tobago]. We have slow [and] low wickets similar to here, I think. Growing up bowling on wickets like that I have [a] fair idea of how it’s going to play. I have played two seasons of Champions League Twenty 20 in India so I am basically familiar with the conditions.
On whether it was a difficult wicket to bat on
From what I saw I didn’t believe it was a difficult wicket to bat on. Early on the ball swung a little bit but there wasn’t much in the wicket for fast bowling. The spinners bowled really well. It’s a fairly okay wicket to bat on.
On the inclusion of Sunil Narine
We needed a spinner in the conditions that we are playing in. Making his debut I think he bowled really well and he really kept himself under pressure, bowling tight overs and picking up wickets as well.
On the key to bowling on such wickets
The key on my part is probably to use the new ball and try to get early wickets. Try to be consistent in line and length, [bowl] wicket to wicket.
