ID :
35004
Wed, 12/10/2008 - 23:33
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/35004
The shortlink copeid
England to field two spinners, says Pietersen
Chennai, Dec 10 (PTI) Hoping to extract turn on an
otherwise flat track, England skipper Kevin Pietersen
Wednesday said the visitors would go into the first cricket
Test against India with a two-pronged spin attack comprising
Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann.
"It's a decision we have taken because we think that the
wicket may spin. We had a look at the wicket and I think it
would spin and (having two spinners) probably gives us the
best attacking option," Pietersen said in the pre-match press
conference.
"Swann bowled absolutely fantastically up to this Test
match and to give him a debut is well deserved. In terms of
our attack, it is pretty important we go with two spinners. It
doesn't matter how good you play the spinners. You still got
to play spin well on the day. We will be keen and ready for
the Indian batsmen. We have to wait and see. Swann did well
against India as off-spinner," he said.
The build-up to the series has been far from ideal for
the beleaguered Englishmen, who abandoned the last two ODIs
after the terror strikes in Mumbai. Pietersen and co. then had
to deal with a fortnight of uncertainty before their security
experts gave the go ahead for the Test series.
Pietersen, however, asserted that his men were now firmly
focussed on the job at hand.
"Any team that turns up for a match will have good
chances of winning a Test match. It depends on how you play
and perform as a unit. We are considered as underdogs coming
to this Test series. In that situation it is all about how you
handle the game under pressure. Our planning and everything
has been disrupted by the incidents during the last two weeks.
But we need to handle the tasks during the next five days," he
said.
"The boys have made the decision to come back for the
Test series. We love India and the team loves India. We have
come with the full squad because we love playing the game in
India before large crowds. The boys are raring for the match
to start and play cricket," he added.
The English skipper was woefully short of luck at the
toss in the one-day series but he is keeping his fingers
crossed for things to change in the Test series.
"Probably looks like a batting track to start off with.
We will probably look to bat first. It looks pretty good
wicket so hopefully we will have some good cricket," he said.
England have decided to go with Matt Prior as
wicketkeeper instead of Test regular Tim Ambrose despite his
lackluster show in the one-day series. Pietersen said he had
full faith in the embattled stumper's ability to bounce back.
"Matt Prior is a better option with the bat. He has
improved tremendously with keeping. I don't think he lost
confidence with his keeping in the ODIs. It was really tough
tour for everybody. He is not the only one to have lost a bit
of confidence over the last one month," he said.
Pietersen said in the Indian team, Yuvraj Singh would be
under pressure in his comeback Test match.
"There will be lot of pressure on Yuvraj Singh. We have
seen him in one dayers. It is interesting to see how he is
going to play short balls," he said.
Pietersen, however, refused to call out-of-form Rahul
Dravid a weak link in the Indian team.
"Never ever say that Rahul is a soft link in any batting
line up. He is such a fantastic player. He was not one of the
best in the world and called wall for nothing. We have got to
do a job because he is such a fantastic player. It is going to
be tough but we have got to do some hard work," he said.
Asked whether the series would be the toughest challenge
of his career, Pietersen said, "Of course it is a tough
series. My whole career has been tough and I do not mind
playing cricket in tough situations as it is going to be more
rewarding."
Pietersen lauded his opposite number Mahendra Singh
Dhoni for being a calm leader.
"Dhoni is a good leader, a confident player. He is really
calm and cool and collected," he said.
Team: Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Ian Bell, Kevin
Pietersen (c), Paul Collingwood, Andrew Filntoff, Matt Prior,
Graeme Swann, Stephen Harmison, James Anderson, Monty Panesar.
PTI VS
RKM
NNNN
otherwise flat track, England skipper Kevin Pietersen
Wednesday said the visitors would go into the first cricket
Test against India with a two-pronged spin attack comprising
Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann.
"It's a decision we have taken because we think that the
wicket may spin. We had a look at the wicket and I think it
would spin and (having two spinners) probably gives us the
best attacking option," Pietersen said in the pre-match press
conference.
"Swann bowled absolutely fantastically up to this Test
match and to give him a debut is well deserved. In terms of
our attack, it is pretty important we go with two spinners. It
doesn't matter how good you play the spinners. You still got
to play spin well on the day. We will be keen and ready for
the Indian batsmen. We have to wait and see. Swann did well
against India as off-spinner," he said.
The build-up to the series has been far from ideal for
the beleaguered Englishmen, who abandoned the last two ODIs
after the terror strikes in Mumbai. Pietersen and co. then had
to deal with a fortnight of uncertainty before their security
experts gave the go ahead for the Test series.
Pietersen, however, asserted that his men were now firmly
focussed on the job at hand.
"Any team that turns up for a match will have good
chances of winning a Test match. It depends on how you play
and perform as a unit. We are considered as underdogs coming
to this Test series. In that situation it is all about how you
handle the game under pressure. Our planning and everything
has been disrupted by the incidents during the last two weeks.
But we need to handle the tasks during the next five days," he
said.
"The boys have made the decision to come back for the
Test series. We love India and the team loves India. We have
come with the full squad because we love playing the game in
India before large crowds. The boys are raring for the match
to start and play cricket," he added.
The English skipper was woefully short of luck at the
toss in the one-day series but he is keeping his fingers
crossed for things to change in the Test series.
"Probably looks like a batting track to start off with.
We will probably look to bat first. It looks pretty good
wicket so hopefully we will have some good cricket," he said.
England have decided to go with Matt Prior as
wicketkeeper instead of Test regular Tim Ambrose despite his
lackluster show in the one-day series. Pietersen said he had
full faith in the embattled stumper's ability to bounce back.
"Matt Prior is a better option with the bat. He has
improved tremendously with keeping. I don't think he lost
confidence with his keeping in the ODIs. It was really tough
tour for everybody. He is not the only one to have lost a bit
of confidence over the last one month," he said.
Pietersen said in the Indian team, Yuvraj Singh would be
under pressure in his comeback Test match.
"There will be lot of pressure on Yuvraj Singh. We have
seen him in one dayers. It is interesting to see how he is
going to play short balls," he said.
Pietersen, however, refused to call out-of-form Rahul
Dravid a weak link in the Indian team.
"Never ever say that Rahul is a soft link in any batting
line up. He is such a fantastic player. He was not one of the
best in the world and called wall for nothing. We have got to
do a job because he is such a fantastic player. It is going to
be tough but we have got to do some hard work," he said.
Asked whether the series would be the toughest challenge
of his career, Pietersen said, "Of course it is a tough
series. My whole career has been tough and I do not mind
playing cricket in tough situations as it is going to be more
rewarding."
Pietersen lauded his opposite number Mahendra Singh
Dhoni for being a calm leader.
"Dhoni is a good leader, a confident player. He is really
calm and cool and collected," he said.
Team: Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Ian Bell, Kevin
Pietersen (c), Paul Collingwood, Andrew Filntoff, Matt Prior,
Graeme Swann, Stephen Harmison, James Anderson, Monty Panesar.
PTI VS
RKM
NNNN
