The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : `We have to reach peak performance level'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jul 04, 2004

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Sport - Cricket

`We have to reach peak performance level'

By Our Sports Reporter

CHENNAI, JULY 3. Indian coach John Wright is clear about the areas he wants the Asia Cup probables to work on during the six-day camp, which began at the Chidambaram Stadium here on Saturday.

"The coming week is very important. The boys have had a good rest. At Bangalore we concentrated on fitness, here the focus will be on cricketing skills because we'll have to reach our peak performance levels before arriving in Sri Lanka," said the former New Zealand batsman.

"We'll be playing a practice game on the fifth day of the camp and another if we have the time. The boys are keen and excited, this being the start of a new season. The break was good, but then a cricketer always looks forward to playing," he added.

Wright also spoke about other issues concerning the Indian team. Excerpts:

On fitness: I don't think we have any fitness worries at this stage. We'll have to assess that during the camp. We planned the build-up for this season immediately after the Pakistan tour, when Greg (Gregory Allen King, the fitness trainer) and I met the BCCI President.

On strategies for the Asia Cup: We've done our research on the teams that we'll come up against in the competition, particularly Pakistan and Sri Lanka. We have a good idea about the former because we played them recently. Sri Lanka has a Test series going (in Australia) on at the moment and we have some material about them. That's the area Ramakrishnan (video analyst) is working on. But in the end, really, it boils down to how well we play and what we do.

Rotation of medium-pacers: I've always felt that you've got to pick the best team. That's very important, because we are representing the country. There might be occasions when you'd say you'll rest someone, but resting someone is alright when you feel that he's not in a position to give his best on a particular day because he's feeling tired.

But rotation policy, I don't think cricket followers in India would be happy if you are not playing the best team, no matter who you are up against.

Opener's debate in Tests: Both Akash Chopra and Yuvraj Singh are outstanding prospects. Both have only played a handful of matches. My view is very simple. The selectors pick the team and the captain decides the batting order. The vice-captain or the coach can only offer advice, but at the end of the day, the captain chooses the batting order. Both players have huge merits. Akash did a fantastic job in Australia and you've got Yuvraj who came in at No. 6 and scored a Test hundred. So, it's a great problem to have!

Geoff Boycott's visit: I've always encouraged the boys to talk to ex-players. In Pakistan, Ian Healy had a couple of sessions with Parthiv. I know Boycott very well. I've played a lot of cricket against him, especially county cricket. I like his attitude.

He's a great supporter of Indian cricket. He'll be here for two days. If the players can get something out of him that helps them, I think it'll be positive. I'm looking forward to seeing him, actually, I've got a few things to ask him myself.

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