Indian skipper Rahul Dravid said managing 20 overs of Power Play with the spinners on was a tough task, especially while defending targets in small grounds like Bristol, and hoped the imminent new rule allowing an extra fielder outside the circle during the second and third Power Plays would relieve captains of some pressure.
“Twenty overs of Power Plays are not easy with spinners on. I am happy with the new rule that is going to come up soon. It will allow an extra fielder out in the second and third Power Plays. I felt for a long time that the second and third Power Plays are monotonous, every one bowling seam-up and no charm. I heard Daniel Vettori complaining about it a lot and as a captain, I felt that too," Dravid said.
Mystery element
"You need to bring a bit of mystery element to it. Now, you are going to have a chance to put an extra fielder out. It will give captains the courage to bowl spinners at Power Plays. Maybe we can bring spinners early on, maybe teams can play two spinners as well. I think that will add a bit more to the game. Now everyone is waiting for the 20 overs to get over to bring the spinners on," he added.
Dravid too brought his spinners -- Piyush Chawla and Ramesh Powar -- once the Power Plays were over. But his gamble of playing two spinners paid off in a brilliant way.
"We took a bit of a gamble there. It was one of the areas we had suffered in when we did not get wickets at Rose Bowl in the middle overs. I think our spinners really bowled well, considering the small boundaries here, and they took crucial wickets. We just need to keep bowling as well as we did in this match. The spinners chipped in with wickets in the middle overs, a good effort considering that England have some good players of spin,” Dravid said.
Pat for Chawla
Dravid praised Chawla for his good performance. “There are signs of him developing. He has played much of his cricket outside India, where the pitch and conditions do not suit his kind of bowling. He’s got a terrific attitude for an 18-year-old and he always wants the ball. He is looking to bowl at good batsmen, looking to set aggressive fields. Ramesh and he form a good pair and they really bowled well," he said.
On his unbeaten 63-ball 92 that earned him the man of the match award, Dravid said, "I was timing the ball well. Even in the first innings at The Oval, I felt I was playing well. It did not work out for me in the second innings there. Even though we were losing at the Rose bowl the other day, I felt a bit good about my batting. It came off for me today and I had a bit of luck, just finished strong."
Dravid added that his team’s catching could have been a lot better, but felt the visitors were in control of proceedings. "We could have taken a few more catches. At one stage, I thought it might hurt us badly. Towards the end, Mascarenhas and Broad also started clearing the boundaries. It is that kind of ground where, when somebody has a good day and starts clearing the boundaries, you cannot do much about that.”