Virender Sehwag, Shaun Pollock and Herschelle Gibbs spoke to the media at the end of yet another one-sided game

Dileep Premachandran at Port Elizabeth29-Nov-2006

Shaun Pollock, unlike Sachin Tendulkar, plays hard to get: ‘I know the answer [to India’s travails], but I won’t tell you till the series is over’ © Getty Images
Virender Sehwag tried to put a brave face on things following yet anotherembarrassing defeat, but after a third drubbing in a week, India’scricketers will be thankful that they’re far from the brickbats and abusethat would have been their lot had they been playing at home. Sehwagpleaded for time to turn things around, but after defeats by 157, 106 and80 runs, the reservoir of patience is in danger of running dry.”When we get a good opening partnership, it will be a different game,”said Sehwag, perhaps oblivious of the role he himself has played inIndia’s disastrous starts in recent times. “I thought Dhoni, Pathan andKarthik batted well, but they were left with too much to do.”He shrugged off the suggestion that India were too reliant on himself andTendulkar, pointing out how the middle order had bailed India out on manyoccasions last season. ‘The middle order won us many games last year, so Idon’t think we’re overly reliant on one or two people,” he said. “If ourtop order clicks in the next two games [the Pro20 on Friday and the finalODI at Centurion on Sunday], we can go into the Tests with someconfidence. The batting let us down. To restrict them to 243 was not bad.If one of the batsmen had stayed till the end, we could have won.”South Africa have had their own wobbles at the top of the order in thisseries, with Graeme Smith contributing just one run in three games, butSehwag insisted that their greater experience had allowed them to recoverfrom seemingly hopelessly situations, like the 76 for 6 at Cape Town lastSunday. ‘Their middle order knows how to get out of pressure situations,”he said. We’ve suffered as a result of Dravid’s injury.”There were some pointed questions too about the inclusion of Karthik,ahead of the likes of Dinesh Mongia. “We see who’s in form, and who’sbatting well at the nets,” said Sehwag when asked about the teamselection. “No one has been making runs, so we’ve given him [Karthik] achance.”With the batting in such disarray, the decision to stick with five bowlerswill be seen by many as utter folly. “We’re sticking to the five-bowlerplan,” said Sehwag. “But if it’s not working, we may change things.”Shaun Pollock, whose impeccable spell first up played such a huge part inthe victory, elicited a chuckle or two when he was asked to pinpoint thecause of India’s woes. “I know the answer, but I won’t tell you till theseries is over,” he said. “We’ve also lost wickets early on, but we’vebounced back better than them. In the past, South African teams tended tobe conservative when they lost wickets. But now, even when we’re five orsix down, we’ve played our shots and managed to score.”When asked if he was surprised by India’s inability to adjust to theconditions, he said: “It takes some time to adjust to these wickets. Itwas perfect for us that we played them in Durban first. The pitch therewas doing something, and none of their batsmen got runs. If you don’t getanything going your way early on in a tour, it can get very difficult.”Herschelle Gibbs was Man of the Match after a doughty anduncharacteristically subdued 93, and he was more than happy with hisefforts after a recent lean trot. “We lost wickets up front again, andeven later when partnerships started to develop, we lost wickets. Someoneneeded to stick around, and that was me today. The others could come inand bat around me.”He was also full of praise for Jacques Kallis, who made a superb 49 andgot the run-rate going after a rocky start. “It was nice to watch,” hesaid, when asked about the role reversal. “He hit some cracking shots. Aslong as he was hitting the ball so sweetly, I didn’t need to do much.”Missing out on a century didn’t bother him unduly. “Sreesanth bowled quitenicely at the death,” he said. “It’s irrelevant. It would have been niceto get a hundred, but I’m happy with getting 93 runs for the team.”With no Indian making a fifty, his 123-ball effort was certainly thedifference. Kallis, Justin Kemp and Gibbs have stepped into the breachwhen needed over the past three games, and with no Indian able to respond,the series has been as one-sided as the 3-0 scoreline suggests.