India’s one-day wonders delight captain Dravid

MUMBAI – India’s captain Rahul David on Tuesday hailed his team’s resurgence in limited-overs cricket, but warned there was a long way to go before it could be counted among the best.

“We have played some really good cricket in the past few weeks,” Dravid said after his team forced world number two South Africa to a 2-2 draw following a 6-1 romp over Sri Lanka. “Though these performances have given us a lot of confidence and hope, we’re not getting carried away and are making sure we have the long-term plans in mind,” he said.The Indian captain led from the front with an unbeaten 78 as the hosts scored a series-levelling victory here on Monday night to deny South Africa their first series win on Indian soil.India, who restricted South Africa to 221-6 after electing to field on the slow wicket, surpassed the modest target for the loss of five wickets with 15 deliveries to spare.”It is very satisfying that we could win this game and square the series,” said Dravid.”South Africa have one of the better pace attacks in world cricket and we learnt a lot playing against them in this series.”Dravid said his team’s high fitness levels had helped it win eight of the 11 one-dayers at home over the last month.”It says a lot about our fitness, playing 11 matches in a short time and winning eight of them.Not to mention the travelling,” he said.”We have taken a step forward but there is a long way to go.We will try and keep improving.”Graeme Smith’s South Africans, ranked second in the world behind Australia, return home still unable to win a bilateral one-day series or multi-nation tournament on Indian soil in five visits.India bounced back after the 10-wicket humiliation in the previous game in Kolkata on Friday to win after overcoming a spirited display by the tourists under lights.Jacques Kallis hit a watchful 91 to hold the South African innings together before all-rounder Shaun Pollock boosted the total with an unbeaten 30 off 17 balls at the end.In reply, India were reduced to 83-3 before Yuvraj Singh (49) put on a match-winning stand of 79 for the fourth wicket with Dravid.The usually unflappable Dravid took a swipe at the hostile crowds in Kolkata, the home of deposed captain Sourav Ganguly, who had jeered the home team on Friday.”The crowds have been nice to us in all venues, with the exception of one city, and it’s understandable that crowds will not support us when we play badly,” he said.”The Indian public deserves a good cricket team and expects us to always perform.”The Indians will have little time to recover as they head into a three-Test series against Sri Lanka starting in Chennai on Friday.-Nampa-AFP”Though these performances have given us a lot of confidence and hope, we’re not getting carried away and are making sure we have the long-term plans in mind,” he said.The Indian captain led from the front with an unbeaten 78 as the hosts scored a series-levelling victory here on Monday night to deny South Africa their first series win on Indian soil.India, who restricted South Africa to 221-6 after electing to field on the slow wicket, surpassed the modest target for the loss of five wickets with 15 deliveries to spare.”It is very satisfying that we could win this game and square the series,” said Dravid.”South Africa have one of the better pace attacks in world cricket and we learnt a lot playing against them in this series.”Dravid said his team’s high fitness levels had helped it win eight of the 11 one-dayers at home over the last month.”It says a lot about our fitness, playing 11 matches in a short time and winning eight of them.Not to mention the travelling,” he said.”We have taken a step forward but there is a long way to go.We will try and keep improving.”Graeme Smith’s South Africans, ranked second in the world behind Australia, return home still unable to win a bilateral one-day series or multi-nation tournament on Indian soil in five visits.India bounced back after the 10-wicket humiliation in the previous game in Kolkata on Friday to win after overcoming a spirited display by the tourists under lights.Jacques Kallis hit a watchful 91 to hold the South African innings together before all-rounder Shaun Pollock boosted the total with an unbeaten 30 off 17 balls at the end.In reply, India were reduced to 83-3 before Yuvraj Singh (49) put on a match-winning stand of 79 for the fourth wicket with Dravid.The usually unflappable Dravid took a swipe at the hostile crowds in Kolkata, the home of deposed captain Sourav Ganguly, who had jeered the home team on Friday.”The crowds have been nice to us in all venues, with the exception of one city, and it’s understandable that crowds will not support us when we play badly,” he said.”The Indian public deserves a good cricket team and expects us to always perform.”The Indians will have little time to recover as they head into a three-Test series against Sri Lanka starting in Chennai on Friday.-Nampa-AFP