Audley Boyd, Assistant Sport Editor
DRAVID
DESPITE losing their record as the best team in one-day internationals when chasing totals, do not expect India to adjust that strategy if they call right at the toss for today's third match in the Digicel Series at the newly-renovated Warner Park in St. Kitts.
India had overhauled totals set by teams batting first on an unprecedented 17 occasions before the Windies cruelly snapped that streak with a heart-stopping one-run victory in Saturday's second ODI at Sabina Park - bowling out the visitors for 197 with a ball to spare, after scoring 198.
WINNING STRATEGY
"I thought that's worked well for us," India's captain Rahul Dravid explained of their success when batting second, after the loss. "It's a strategy that's really paying dividends for us. We've been winning a lot of games and I think one of the keys to chasing down good scores is to restrict the opposition to chaseable scores and I thought we did that today. It's just that we didn't execute our plan when we batted.
"We've been chasing really well of late. In some ways it (losing the record) had to happen at some stage but it's a target we should've chased, we didn't bat really well," he reasoned.
DEFENDED POSITION
The 33-year-old Dravid, who has scored 9,495 runs in a mammoth 289 one-day internationals, further defended his position to field first as practical by highlighting the weather factor because both matches were preceded by heavy rainfall, which aided bowling conditions with added moisture in the pitch.
"The decision was fine and it's not a pre-determined decision.
"I'm not obsessed with this record of chasing, to be honest it really doesn't make a difference to me at all, I just decide whether to bat or bowl based on the conditions, not on my track record.
"I thought chasing would be par for the course, there was something in the wicket early on for my seamers," India's captain observed. "A pretty good wicket doesn't turn viciously. I think on this wicket you'd look to chase and the opposing captain probably would've done the same."
CAPACITY TO IMPROVE
The sub-continent team's skipper, who has 12 ODI hundreds and 71 fifties contributing mainly to a decent 40.57 average, pointed to his team's capacity to improve and said the failed result won't let them lose focus.
"[A] defeat is a defeat, it's part of the game. We can gain something from it. At one stage we didn't look like we were going to get this close. It's hard to lose but you've got to accept these things. You're gonna lose a few games (but) you've gotta pick yourself up and go to the next ground and try and get better.
"We've done really well so far so I won't panic. We don't panic when we lose, even when we win we're not jumping up and down and getting excited. We're just focusing on what we need to do, how we can get better as a team and irrespective of whether we win or lose I think that's a good perspective to have."
Dravid added: "They know we can get better. There are areas of the game in which we can get better and keep improving and that's basically been our goal.
"We finished it off in the last few overs (Thursday), they pulled it off today so it's two close games, a 1-1 result, so I think there's a lot to play for in the next three games of the series."
