On depleting fast bowling resources Ajit (Agarkar) has taken his responsibility well and it boils down to (Irfan) Pathan and (Laxmipathy) Balaji. I have got a lot of faith in Pathan because he has shown a lot of character, lot of belief. He was good in the two Tests he played. In Melbourne, he was up against a very good line-up on a good wicket. You have got to give him a bit of breathing space. He is a hard worker and I am sure he would come back strongly. Missing out on Zaheer (Khan), Ashish (Nehra) and Harbhajan (Singh) has been a blow, especially since they have been the key in the last two-three years. But then the younger guys need to put up their hands and be counted. On BCCI’s role vis-a-vis fast bowlers The fast bowlers play a lot of first-class cricket for their states. That is where the Board has to get into the picture and allow them breaks. We have got to have a system to look after our fast bowlers. We have to find a system where they are well looked after in terms of their fitness, their rest period. They do not get enough time to recover because of state commitments. On the fifth bowler options I have to bowl better. I did not bowl in the Tests so that could be a reason. The fifth bowler cost us a few in the last game. It is important that me, Veeru (Sehwag) and Sachin (Tendulkar) do the fifth bowler’s job well here. On tailenders who can’t bat They need to back themselves more. People like Ajit (Agarkar), Anil (Kumble) and (Irfan) Pathan have the ability to bat. You can spend hours at the net but when the pressure comes, as it was in the last game, when you needed eight an over, the key is to think the right things in the centre. It is also important that one of your top seven batters is with them.(PTI)
