India concerned by Sehwag struggles by AFP

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Player:	V Sehwag
Event:	ICC World Cup 2006/07

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DateLine: 10th March 2007

 

India captain Rahul Dravid insisted he still had confidence in struggling Virender Sehwag despite the dashing opener suffering another miserable failure with the bat.

 

Sehwag was out for nought as India completed an easy nine-wicket win over India in their final World Cup warm-up here on Friday, a performance which will have his critics sharpening their knives for a man who has made just 273 runs in his last 15 one-dayers.

 

"He missed out and we would like him to get more runs," said Dravid.

 

"He's a player who has done well here in the past. Virender will have a big role to play here in the tournament and hopefully he will fire and be a dangerous cricketer."

 

But Dravid, who has consistently stood by Sehwag, added that India would not be afraid to use other options at the World Cup.

 

"We have the option of four guys who can open the batting. Sourav Ganguly, Sehwag, Robin Uthappa and Sachin Tendulkar - they have all opened the batting, and some have done it for longer than others," he said.

 

"We have the options, and we just have to see who is in form, who is playing well, what the combination of the team is, and what the pitches are like before we decide what is the best combination for the side at the time.

 

"It's nice to have some flexibility and people who can bat in various positions for us, but our plans have always been dependent on what is the situation."

 

Dravid admits "flexibility" will be very important in his side's hopes of winning the World Cup for a second time.

 

"I don't think you can enter a World Cup with only one plan and every time you are going to use this one plan," he said.

 

"I think it has to vary and you will see that teams will have to adapt to the different conditions and be flexible according to the situation.

 

"We hope to do this and we think we have the players that can do it. We have an idea in our minds about the kind of combinations we want to play, and the players we want to pick, but there are too many variables, so only time will tell."

(Article: Copyright © 2007 AFP)