Lots to ponder for us as we head home

Dec 12, 2010 - By Daniel Vettori |

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Twists & Turns

It was tough wicket to bat on, but we should still have made a good fist of it in Chennai. We did not score enough and that proved to be our undoing in the last game.

A score of around 200 would have given us something to bowl at and the match would have been competitive. Unfortunately we did not do that and ended up losing wickets in a heap. That left us nothing much to do when we came out to bowl.

I will not criticise the pitch because as a bowler, I do not mind pitches that help the bowlers quite a bit.

The result would have made all the difference. If I was the winning team’s captain, I would not have minded it at all. It’s really hard to comment on pitches especially if you are on the losing side.

Looking back on this series, I guess James Franklin has been a positive for us. He played three games and showed us that he could be in the World Cup squad.

He played well under pressure and may have sealed his spot. The other person to do well in the series was Nathan McCullum. He came on to bowl in tough situations and did pretty well with the bat. Both these guys can build on the confidence they have in the next series against Pakistan.

We will now have some decisions to make as we head back home. There will be many who may want us to chop and change players. Unfortunately for us different things, different areas of our game need to be addessed. I have to be making most of the decisions since I am both the selector and the captain.

I think we did not play as a team in the series. A good batting performance was backed by a poor bowling performance. However, India managed to score on all facets of the game and played well as a team at all times.

Now as we get back home, every player in the domestic set-up will have a chance to make it to the World Cup squad. The good thing is that there are some good young players who are knocking on the door.

You always hope for something good will follow the bad. Maybe this is our opportunity.

We have to stay strong and fight through this period. The series that we have gone through should toughen the team.

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