Excerpts:
On India's preparation for the West Indies Test series...
Very happy (with the preparations). It is the first time in a while that we've got such a long period of preparation for a Test series, so we have tried and made the best use of it.
It started in Bangalore. We had 6-7 days there and almost two weeks here in the West Indies. Dont remember when we got so much time in the last 2-3 years to prepare for a Test series. So overall, good preparation and we have prepared for whatever different conditions we could encounter in the match situations... and what should be our response. We have discussed our plans and execution, so we have tried to work out all angles possible. The time we have had has been very useful in terms of team bonding as well as preparation. All the players are looking in good touch.
On the Anil Kumble, Sanjay Bangar impact...
All our players have a lot of confidence and self-belief. And our work is to prepare them and keep them in a good mindset. The kind of intensity they bring to preparation and training overall, they have a very professional approach. So our role is very little and it is just to prepare them nicely and they have prepared very nicely.
On if the wickets in the Test series will mirror those used in St. Kitts during the warm-ups...
Yeah more or less. But we won't be surprised if there is some grass cover on the wicket which we see now. How much of it remains on the surface remains to be seen and we are expecting a bit of grass cover and we also prepared keeping in mind that some of the wickets also slow down as the game progresses. So we have been aware of that and have prepared accordingly.
On India's spin weakness... (Rakheem Cornwall's five-fer)
No generally, if a good ball gets you out, whether it is from a spinner or a seamer, we need to accept that rather than say that our batsmen got out to spinners or seamers. Quality of the ball, whether it was a wicket taking delivery, that is something we have discussed. I dont find that there is an inherent weakness against either spin or seamers for any particular batsmen. It is more to do with the kind of that sort of delivery.
On the wickets and the need for an extra bowler...
I think that is something that'll be decided when the coach and captain address the team. They will have discussions with the selectors who are available here on tour. I believe they will be taking the decision and in due time it will be communicated to the team and everyone else.
On the need for batsmen to display patience...
We have stressed on batting through sessions right from the simulations we have had in Bangalore. The entire intention has been to have batsmen batting sessions and we start and end a particular session well. This is to make sure whatever advantage we have got during that session, we consolidate on that. We have spoken about that and batsmen have been making that sort of effort to imbibe that in their game.
On match situation simulation in the nets...
That is something done during centre wicket practices or match simulations, both of which we have done in Bangalore as well as here in practice matches. We said that if you bat two sessions you can return to the meant pavilion or if it was a two-day game, if you are happy with the way you have coped and happy with yourself mentally, then the batsmen were free to come back. And in the nets we generally work a lot on communication and emphasis on strike rotation that is why batting in pairs and making sure we are changing every four or five balls, rotating the strike, so those are the things we work on during the practice sessions.
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