'Tendulkar and Dravid took the game away from us'

Onkar Singh

Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak had predicted that the Kotla pitch would take spin from the fourth day onwards. However, he was proved wrong as the Indian pace attack picked more than five of his team's wickets in the second innings of the first Test, which concluded on Wednesday, with India winning by seven wickets.

According to him, his team lost the grip on the match after Rahul Dravid was dropped early on in the first innings.

"Tendulkar and Dravid took the game away from us. We dropped Dravid early on in the first innings, and then Sachin batted wonderfully well," Streak told rediff.com.

He praised Srinath, saying he bowled exceptionally well in the second innings, "which enabled India bowl Zimbabwe out for a meagre total".

"In our second innings Srinath bowled well. The kind of start the Indian team got off to in both innings while bowling is something we could not," he added.

He however defended his decision to declare the Zimbabwe first innings despite the fact that the last pair was batting superbly.

"We took a chance by declaring the innings, but it did not work out the way we had anticipated. We were hoping to get a few early wickets, especially that of Tendulkar and Dravid. That would have given us a good chance to consolidate our position. Unfortunately, things did not work out, and, as I said before, we lost the game to a good side," he said.

Asked how his assessment of the wicket went wrong, Streak said he had done his calculations, according to which the pitch would have started taking turn from the fourth day onwards. "It took longer than we thought. On the last day the pitch was taking good turn. It was not our day so we lost the game. That is all I can say," he concluded.

Mail Cricket Editor