da casino： Greg Chappell and Jacques Kallis spoke to the media at the end of the day’s play
Dileep Premachandran at Johannesburg15-Dec-2006
On a two-faced pitch Laxman has trouble with a lifter © Getty Images
The late loss of VVS Laxman’s wicket made the scoreboard a less appealingprospect for the Indians, but Greg Chappell, the coach, was satisfied withthe application that most of his batsmen showed on a surface that gaveenough encouragement to the pace bowlers.”I thought all the middle-order batsmen batted well and fought it out,given the conditions and the nature of the surface,” said Chappell,speaking to the media after the day’s play. “It wasn’t easy to bat at all.It’s not a wicket where you could say you were ‘in’ at any stage.Hopefully, there will be more sunshine tomorrow, and we can continue fromhere and bat better.”The decision to bat, despite the damp pitch, was Rahul Dravid’s, andChappell supported it. “It was a courageous decision to bat first,” hesaid. “But as a team, we always look to bat first. This appears a drytrack, and we wanted to take the initiative because batting last will bevery difficult here.”Jacques Kallis, who sent back both Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, wasdelighted with his nine-over spell, and said that it had been pretty mucha typical Wanderers pitch. “There was a little bit in the wicket, and youjust needed to put the ball in the right areas. You always expect it toplay a little up and down. If anything, what was different was the lack ofpace. It was very slow. If you get in and see off the new ball, it’susually a good scoring ground.”He was confident that South Africa could wrap up the Indian inningsquickly and then set up the game with the bat. “We would like to cash inbatting during our first innings, and put them under pressure,” he said.”Normally, days two and three are the best batting days on this ground,hopefully the track will get a little quicker too.”South Africa might well be without Dale Steyn for that second day, afterhe pulled up with a recurrence of a quadriceps strain after bowling thefirst ball of his 11th over. “He had a Grade I strain in his left thighsome three weeks back,” said Shane Jabaar, the team physio. “He has beenreceiving treatment and bowling in the nets for the last one week, but ina Test match, there is an increased ten percent intensity in bowling.”He felt very mild pain and left the field as a precaution, which wasgood. We’ll see how it responds in the morning, and see if he can comeback for the first innings, or whether we should get him ready for thesecond innings.”They might need him too, on a pitch that Chappell reckons will growincreasingly bowler-friendly. “I think the bowlers will dominate thisgame,” he said. “This could turn out to be a low-scoring Test. The oddbatsman might get stuck in, but generally, the bowlers will have the upperhand. We have no target as such, but 350 is usually what we aim for in aTest match batting first.”Even if they get within a 100 runs of that stated target, it will be anachievement in itself. After the limp surrender of the one-day series,this was a day to show some fight. And though no man lasted the distance,there was some true grit on display. What price a Ganguly epic on day two?