Dominica, July 11: Needing 84 runs from the mandatory 15 overs with seven wickets in hand and Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman at the crease, India gave up the fourth innings chase, opting to settle for a draw against West Indies in the final Test at Dominica. In a post-match press-conference, coach Duncan Fletcher explained the decision that left many baffled.
"It wasn't difficult to get set but it was very difficult to score runs. How could we score 5-6 runs per over when scoring three runs an over on that pitch wasn't easy?" Fletcher posited.
“We have seen through the match that unless and until the bowling was really bad, it wasn't easy to score. You can't play square of the wicket and that's a huge advantage to the bowling side."
Throwing light on the batsmen’s predicament he explained, "We sent Suresh [Raina] up the order but even he found it very difficult. If a left-hander against a leg-spin bowling is struggling, there was no point. It's difficult to score four runs an over in Test cricket.”
"If he [Raina] had scored easily and hit a couple of fours, we would have gone for it. But both [Murali] Vijay and [Rahul] Dravid said scoring runs in the middle wasn't easy. If batsmen who have batted for 22 overs and yet made only 40 runs are struggling, how could you chase five runs an over? It makes commonsense to me," the Indian coach stated simply.
Speaking about his wards who won the Twenty20 and ODI series in the absence of some senior players, Fletcher said, "When we took the plane from Mumbai, with the pessimism [surrounding] the team, we’ve got to be happy with the 3-0 result. We won everything. We are not sitting back on these results; we would've loved to win the one-dayers 4-1 and Tests 2-0, but after missing so many key players, it's quite a statement.”
"We never allowed the West Indies to get ahead of us. If weather had not caught us, we could have won in Barbados. We were probably half an hour away from winning that Test."
On being unable to bowl out the hosts in the second innings in the time they would have liked he said, "You adopt different tactics. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. The head of the coach and captain is always on the block. It's either right or wrong and nothing in between. Another day it could have worked. At least MS [Dhoni] tried something instead of waiting for things to happen."
Speaking about the conditions during the game he added, "It was very hot, very humid. The two-and-a-half hour sessions were killers. From the word go, both sides showed a lot of character, especially in bowling."
About the youngsters in the Indian side who got an opportunity in the series, the coach said, "Having been involved with legends such as Dravid and Laxman, it could only have done some good to them. It's more difficult for a young Indian cricketer than anyone else in the world since he gets such a limited opportunity.
"In that opportunity, he is expected to replace great players. It puts pressure. You can't stop them from putting pressure on themselves. It would affect them. Hopefully, they would have learnt the mental side of it and it would do them some good.”
Discussing Ishant Sharma, who was the pick of the Indian bowlers and who led the pace attack from the front, he said, "Ishant is the Man-of-the-Series and he really bowled well. He bowled with a lot of promise. Munaf [Patel] had to sit out two Tests but it was a very slow wicket here. For PK [Praveen Kumar] it was a very slow wicket, it didn't swing. “
As for the batting line-up he said, "It would have been nice if some other batsmen had got runs but most of them got runs at some stage or other and that's good."
The new India coach also had some good words for the hosts. "They [West Indies] bowled very well. Their batters slowly got better. It's not only on the field, the way they move off the field, their warm ups, I take note of it. They looked a very professional unit. Under Ottis Gibson, the team is improving all the time. I have been with England here, I have seen them in England but the way they put it together here, they are moving up. If that improvement continues, I wouldn't like to be part of another touring side and play them."
