Tomorrow or till World Cup, captain Dravid cool about his job

New Delhi, Mar 27 (UNI) Chosen to lead the side till World Cup next year, Rahul Dravid is not exactly ecstatic and keeping with his no-nonsense approach to the game, the Team India skipper said it does not bother him whether he is made captain for one year or a day.

''Personally, it does not bother me whether I'm captain of the side for one year or a day. I take each day as it comes. I always ask the team to go ahead with a long-term plan and I would continue to do that whether I'm captaining the side till tomorrow or the World Cup,'' he told reporters.

''I never gave it any thought and it won't make any difference to my thinking,'' he said.

Elaborating on his plans for the World Cup, Dravid said, ''We have been trying to develop players and have had some ups and downs in the process. But I'm happy with the way the youngsters have responded. In another eight month's time, we would have a squad to be reckoned with.'' He was also very happy with the new crop of pacers who have been quick to capitalise on their opportunities.

''We have five pacers now and that gives a a lot of options. With quality bowlers at your disposal, you can rotate them.' ''In the past, we had very few bowlers and we pushed them too hard which resulted in injuries. But the situation is different now and our bowling now has lot of depth,'' he said.

The Indian captain also rejected the notion that too much of cricket was taking its toll, especially on the pacers.

''I don't think so. There is odd the niggle or injury here and there. But you ask any international player and you know it's something you can't escape.'' On the scrapping of super-sub rule, Dravid said he was not very sure whether it helped.

''Of course it helped the side which won the toss. So sometimes, it went for us, and sometimes against.'' Dravid, meanwhile, recalled the bowlers' plight in the recent South Africa-Australia one dayer at Wanderers and from their point of view, refused to call it the greatest ODI even though the Proteas succesfully chased 434 to win the thriller.

''I can tell you that I have had a chat with some of our bowlers in the dressing room and they don't think it was the greatest ODI.

The dice was so heavily loaded in favour of the batsmen. It was, however, interesting to see a team chasing a huge target. But just a few days back, the same Australian side was bowled out for 93 when (Makhaya) Ntini took six wickets,'' he said.

UNI AY PM HT1610