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[kban1]

I would have batted first: Flintoff

PTI

MUMBAI, Mar 22: Victorious England skipper Andrew Flintoff on Wednesday said India paid the price for their decision to field after winning the toss in third and final cricket Test which the visitors won to square the three-match series 1-1 on Wednesday.

Flintoff said India were in trouble from the moment Dravid chose to invite England to bat at the Wankhede Stadium.

"I would always have batted first. Once he (Dravid) chose to field first I knew they were knee deep. Obviously I was pleased," the 27-year-old Lancashire player said.

Flintoff, named man of the match and the series, was also happy that he was able to correct his own poor record with the bat in India.

"I wanted to score runs here ... people were questioning my ability to bat well against spinners in the sub-continent," said Flintoff who made 18, 0, 0, 4 and 0 in the five innings he played during England's visit to India in 2001-02.

"I worked with Neil Fairbrother (former England cricketer) before coming here.

"I have been working with (coach) Duncan Fletcher and (assistant coach) Mathew Maynard and refining myself after coming here.
 
"I am just disappointed at not scoring a century in the series, but otherwise quite happy," he said.

Flintoff led the side after captain Michael Vaughan and his deputy Marcus Trescothick returned home before the first Test due to injury and personal reasons respectively.

Fast bowler Simon Jones also flew back home before the Tests began after he injured his shoulder during practice.

Flintoff said the Mumbai win would be special in the wake of injuries to senior players and also because it was their first Test win in India in more than 20 years.

"It"s a huge win, considering our record in India and the problems we had with so many players making their debut (in the series)," the star all-rounder said.

"We had worked so hard for this win against the superstars of India. The 1-1 series results is very satisfying.

"We did not deserve to lose as we had performed well in the last two matches except for one session in Mohali".

"I told the boys to give one final push in the last five days," said an elated Flintoff who made a few laps of the Wankhede Stadium with his teammates at the end of the match.

Asked what were his thoughts last evening after having set India a target of 313, Flintoff said he was sure his team was in a very good position to win the match.

"I always knew we were in a great position. And once we got those two wickets of Rahul (Dravid, the Indian captain) and Sachin (Tendulkar) we were sure we had the upper hand as Shaun (Udal) was bowling very well and was getting the ball to bounce and turn," Flintoff said.

The 37-year-old Udal picked up four for 14 in 37 balls in a sensational post-lunch spell while Flintoff himself grabbed three for 14.

Flintoff expressed his disappointment with one section of the crowd in the Test which he said was not fair to him or Dravid, who was booed during the presentation ceremony, but overall expressed his happiness over the crowd behaviour during the series.

"I was happy over the reception I got after we won. But a section of the crowd was not only unfair to me but also to Dravid. But overall the crowd was fantastic in the Test series," he said.

[Blwe_torch]

"I would always have batted first. Once he (Dravid) chose to field first I knew they were knee deep. Obviously I was pleased," the 27-year-old Lancashire player said. "

Just imagine......... that to decide to bat first wasn't like some rocket-science!

[dextrous]

Even a lesser journalist like me, who can perhaps only dream of having the writing ability of some of the big shots writing around the web, could guess that 

[suraj]

Yeah no-brainer

This one will haunt us for a while but hopefully its a learning lesson vs witch hunting

[worma]

As I have already expressed at many places, I think Dravid erred, and India should have batted first.

Having said that, Freddie's statement has two angles. The first that he didn't find the pitch helpful enough to warrant a bowling first option on the subcontinent (although Hoggard did write recently that he thought the pitch wasnt that bad for bowling first, and he wouldnt have been disappointed if asked to bowl first). The second is that Freddie knows he had absolutely no chance batting last on this pitch against Indian spinners...even if they were chasing 100+ score, it would have been next to impossible.

[suraj]

As I have already expressed at many places, I think Dravid erred, and India should have batted first.

Having said that, Freddie's statement has two angles. The first that he didn't find the pitch helpful enough to warrant a bowling first option on the subcontinent (although Hoggard did write recently that he thought the pitch wasnt that bad for bowling first, and he wouldnt have been disappointed if asked to bowl first). The second is that Freddie knows he had absolutely no chance batting last on this pitch against Indian spinners...even if they were chasing 100+ score, it would have been next to impossible.

Now tht's more rare than Zaheer Khan getting a wicket

A post from worma on the DG!!!!

Nice to hear Finland is alive and kicking

[toney]

I dont think the 5th day pitch was as bad as many people thought it would be. There wasnt a lot of uneven bounce; RD and SRT showed that till lunch. There was turn on offer but which fifth day pitch, especially in India doesnt help the spinners? Going by some of the pitches we have seen, this wasnt a  minefield. The last pitch for the Aussie test seems to have created a long lasting hangover.
Take a look at all the dismissals. Except for Jaffer who got one coming in sharply, the rest of the top order batsmen could blame themselves for their dismissal.
RD: Uncharacteristicaly fished outside offstump. Who does he think he is, the SRT clone?
SRT: I dont know what to make of his dismissals in recent times. Either it is a part time rubbish bowler or a ball that kept low or somebody moving behind the sightscreen.
YS: Edged playing a ball outside the offstump.
Veeru: I missed this. He was injured anyhow and was severely hampered, so forget it.
MSD: The less said, the better.

Maybe, India might have done better with their top class spinners. But then Freddie and company played them reasonably well in the previous 14 days of cricket except for two hours of  fatal self-destruction in Mohali.

[worma]

I dont think the 5th day pitch was as bad as many people thought it would be. There wasnt a lot of uneven bounce; RD and SRT showed that till lunch. There was turn on offer but which fifth day pitch, especially in India doesnt help the spinners? Going by some of the pitches we have seen, this wasnt a  minefield. The last pitch for the Aussie test seems to have created a long lasting hangover.
Take a look at all the dismissals. Except for Jaffer who got one coming in sharply, the rest of the top order batsmen could blame themselves for their dismissal.
RD: Uncharacteristicaly fished outside offstump. Who does he think he is, the SRT clone?
SRT: I dont know what to make of his dismissals in recent times. Either it is a part time rubbish bowler or a ball that kept low or somebody moving behind the sightscreen.
YS: Edged playing a ball outside the offstump.
Veeru: I missed this. He was injured anyhow and was severely hampered, so forget it.
MSD: The less said, the better.

Maybe, India might have done better with their top class spinners. But then Freddie and company played them reasonably well in the previous 14 days of cricket except for two hours of  fatal self-destruction in Mohali.

Toney agreed, the pitch wasn't too bad for our batsmen, it was a combination of good persistent bowling, poor form and pressure of the situation that got us to do badly. Although RD wasn't fishing that much outside, was a good ball that moved an inch from line of off. SRT...regulation spinners wicket..not a bad ball...but happens during bad-form days.

But my point was England would not have made more than 100 anyway on this pitch on final day against Kumble, Bhajji and Patel.

Suraj: Mate, Zaheer has got a five-for today :-) Check out some other posts.

[suraj]

I dont think the 5th day pitch was as bad as many people thought it would be. There wasnt a lot of uneven bounce; RD and SRT showed that till lunch. There was turn on offer but which fifth day pitch, especially in India doesnt help the spinners? Going by some of the pitches we have seen, this wasnt a  minefield. The last pitch for the Aussie test seems to have created a long lasting hangover.
Take a look at all the dismissals. Except for Jaffer who got one coming in sharply, the rest of the top order batsmen could blame themselves for their dismissal.
RD: Uncharacteristicaly fished outside offstump. Who does he think he is, the SRT clone?
SRT: I dont know what to make of his dismissals in recent times. Either it is a part time rubbish bowler or a ball that kept low or somebody moving behind the sightscreen.
YS: Edged playing a ball outside the offstump.
Veeru: I missed this. He was injured anyhow and was severely hampered, so forget it.
MSD: The less said, the better.

Maybe, India might have done better with their top class spinners. But then Freddie and company played them reasonably well in the previous 14 days of cricket except for two hours of  fatal self-destruction in Mohali.

Toney agreed, the pitch wasn't too bad for our batsmen, it was a combination of good persistent bowling, poor form and pressure of the situation that got us to do badly. Although RD wasn't fishing that much outside, was a good ball that moved an inch from line of off. SRT...regulation spinners wicket..not a bad ball...but happens during bad-form days.

But my point was England would not have made more than 100 anyway on this pitch on final day against Kumble, Bhajji and Patel.

Suraj: Mate, Zaheer has got a five-for today :-) Check out some other posts.

smite for myself- didn't know ZK took a 5er

wish he starts doing it in real matches though

[toney]

suraj, liar, u didnt smite urself.

[suraj]

suraj, liar, u didnt smite urself.

Smite u for catching me toney!!!! Lol

How do u self-smite; it shd be a feature- kinda like stepping down from captaincy


OOPS!! I better start preparing a long e-mail cos someone's going to talk abt this post in the press conference and all hell will break lose!!!!!

[Jai]

Dravid opted to bowl first.....Azzu Miyan in the VIP box, sitting next to Kiran More. Any corelation there? Just kidding.

[toney]

OOPS!! I better start preparing a long e-mail cos someone's going to talk abt this post in the press conference and all hell will break lose!!!!!

Only one person was man enough to step down. One person.