Daijiworld News Network - Goa
Pics by Rajtilak Naik from Fatorda
Fatorda, Margao, Apr 3: Both Indian and England teams were busy with the net practice inside the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here in Fatorda on Sunday.
Stretching moments
Yuvraj Singh in action
England team stretching out
A bond of togetherness
Hundreds of cricket-crazy fans thronged around the stadium to have a glimpse of their heroes
Dravid pins hope on batting
Harish Kotian / rediff
Fatorda: Indian captain Rahul Dravid is hoping for a better showing from his top order so that the team can continue its domination in the ongoing one-day series against England.
India took a 2-0 lead in the series after wins in Delhi and Faridabad, but the batting has struggled in both the matches. Only Suresh Raina (81 not out) has managed to reach the half-century mark as all the other Indian batsmen have struggled to get going.
"We are very happy to have won both the games. But we are hoping that once a batsman gets set, he will carry on to play a big innings. In the last game we had an opening stand of 60-odd runs and hopefully we can build on such starts in the coming matches and the top order gets going," Dravid said at the Nehru stadium in Fatorda on Sunday on the eve of the third one-day international.
The Indian openers - Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir - have not looked in top form so far. They put on a stand of 17 in the first one-dayer in Delhi and then were involved in a cautious stand of 61 in the second match in Faridabad.
"I thought the openers gave us a good start in the last game, but we would like them to carry on just like Raina did," said Dravid, referring to Raina's match winning knock of 81 in the second one-dayer.
The venue is a not a regular one for cricket as it stages football matches throughout the year. The wicket is a newly laid one and many believe that it could turn out to be another low scoring affair.
"It is newly laid track but it looks good for me and better than the one we played here last time. I guess it is a 250-odd wicket," Dravid said.
India have played three matches here, but failed to win any of them, losing twice to Sri Lanka and once to Australia. But Dravid believes that things could be different this time.
"Unfortunately we never won here. It feels great to come to a football-crazy city and play cricket. It will be nice to get a good result for the people who obviously love their game," he said.
India have won 14 of the last 18 matches they have played and the key to victory has been the significant contributions from the young players. Also, the different experiments tried at various times have worked in India's favour.
"If Sachin Tendulkar was there, he could have been used as a fifth bowler also. That is why in the last two matches we tried Sehwag and Yuvraj [Singh]; both of them had a good spell also. Irfan's [Pathan] development as a batsman is also a revelation for us. The key here is to focus on what we have to do, try to improve in some areas and give ourselves a chance to win," said the 33-year-old.
He also added that fast bowler Munaf Patel is now available for selection.
"Munaf has recovered completely and he has participated in the drills today and bowled well too."
Asked whether the youngsters would be given a rest, Dravid replied: "I know it has been pretty tough. But it is also hard to give them an exact number of games especially when you have a good bunch like this. It also depends a lot on the wicket and conditions of the day."