Patience
is the key to succeed here: Justin Langer
Tapan Joshi
Nagpur, February 19
Justin Langer
November 22, 1999 at the Bellerive
Oval, Hobart. Justin Langer walks back to the Australian dressing room and shows
his fist for the final time. He was doing it the whole day, when he and his
mate Adam Gilchrist defied, mauled and finally ground the Pakistan attack to
achieve an almost impossible win for his country and become a part of Australian
cricket folklore.
He shared a record stand of 238
runs for the sixth wicket with Gilchrist, scoring 127 runs before falling to
Saqlain Mushtaq, while Glchrist remained unbeaten on 149. He gave Indians a
taste of things to come on Monday when he scored 115 against India 'A'. His
highest score of 223 has also been compiled against India, at Sydney in 1999-2000.
The Western Australian, on his
maiden tour to India,. is hoping to achieve greater heights and success on the
wickets here. CricketNext.com caught up with 30-year-old Perth born left-hander
for a chat. Excerpts:
Q: You were very watchful during
your hundred here. Was there a point in your innings where you came to terms
with the wicket?
A: I think that's going to be our game plan throughout the summer. We've seen
so many times that on these sort of wickets, often a number of wickets fall in
the second session. Our gameplan is trying to spend time getting in and developing
a partnership.
Q: You have worked very hard
on playing spin over the years...
A: Oh yeah, I sure have worked hard. I think county cricket has helped me because
you tend to face quite a few spinners there. It is just a matter of being positive
and looking to score runs. I guess it comes with experience over the last couple
of years.
Q: What's the key to succeed
on sub-continent wickets?
A: The key is being patient early on and adjusting to the pace of the wicket and
the spinning ball. If you are patient it tends to be a lot easy as your innings
progresses.
Q: Did you feel some pressure
coming out of the last series against West Indies where you were not your usual
self?
A: I did not have the best of series against the West Indies. It was symbolic
of the amount of cricket I played. Coming out of a county season, I was a bit
weary. I might sound crazy but I've worked really hard on my rest since the West
Indies finished.. I feel a lot fresher and a lot better. Hopefully, that is going
to pay dividends throughout this series.
Q: How much confidence has your
hundred here given you going into the first Test?
A: This three-dayer has given the entire team confidence. Colin Miller and Jason
Gillespie bowled well on Sunday and we were able to bat the all day on Monday
and this should give the team good confidence.
Q: You had a few interesting
moment with Balaji Rao, the leg-spinner...
A: I was disappointed that he showed the Australian skipper little regard on his
dismissal. At the end of the day it's a game so I was telling him to have a bit
of a laugh about it and play with a smile on his face because he was getting a
bit serious there
Q: Finally, what are you expecting
from this series?
A: (Laughs) Lots of runs. Talking of the team, we have won every where except
here and we believe we can do it this time round. India is a different proposition
in India but we are confident that we will be able to do it. The guys are quite
keen and confident. On a personal level, it would be nice to get a few runs against
the spinners here.
