A favour for Rahul

After seeing the Indian Cricket Team lose convincingly to the Aussies, I had a rather disturbed sleep. The only silver lining in my sleep was when Rahul Dravid came in my dream and asked me to be his ‘media managing’ mentor during India’s World Cup 2007 campaign. Though I am not sure how long the tourney will last in the tournament , I am taking the task very seriously believe it or not, I have already started to pen an FAQ manual for the Captain of the Boyz in Blue(s).


Question 1:

MC: So what do you think is the main reason for the defeat?

Situation 1 : India has not played in a one day for about two months prior to the tournament.

Rahul: Since this is the first gane in two months, the players were a bit rusted, and we are only bound to improve after a few games

Situation 2: India has played a couple of unwarranted triangulars before the start of the WC

Rahul: We have had a lot of cricket in the last two months, and it is just that the boys are feeling a bit jaded. We are looking forward to the three day break before we take on Kenya, which is a critical encounter

Question2

MC: So, what do you think the morale of the team is going to be ahead of the crucial match against Pakistan?

Situation 1: India has had a thumping victory against Kenya in the previous match

Rahul: Well, you know, it is always important to have a win under your belt before you take on the big names in the tournament, so the morale would be upbeat, and the boys are ready for the challenge

Situation 2: Kenya sets up the first upset in the tournament beating India by 4 wickets

Rahul: Well, you know, it really doesn’t matter what happened in the previous match. This is cricket, you lose some and win some. So it is imperative to take each match in isolation and concentrate hard. The boys morale would be positive by the time the match starts. No two ways about it.

Question 3:

MC: Congrats on a great performance. Your century really helped India post that big score which was beyond the reach of the

Situation 1: Rahul opens the innings with Sachin

Rahul: When you have 300+ as the target you are looking to set for the opposition, the openers must set up the contest and that is precisely what I did. When the openers set the ball rolling, it is easier for the middle order to capitalize on the start

Situation 2: Rahul has batted at number 5 and scores the century

Rahul: For a big score, it is extremely important that the middle order comes to the party irrespective of the start the openers had given. That is why we have seven batsmen and not just two…(*to end with a ‘gotcha’ kinda smile*)

To be continued…