'Winning every game is important' - Dravid

Rahul Dravid admitted that he hadn't played in a more convincing one-day series victory and said that he was privileged to captain the current squad of players. On the eve of the seventh and final game at Baroda, Dravid and Greg Chappell, the coach, hailed their players for pulling off an emphatic series victory and acknowledged the crucial role played by the support staff throughout.

"We hadn't won a home series in a long time," said Dravid while speaking to the press on the eve of the match. "We started off well and kept the momentum going for the rest of the series. The first two games were crucial. It's important to have a good squad of players with several options so that we can use them as and when we need to. Even though we've sealed the series, winning every game is important. Irrespective of the score, we need to go out there tomorrow and perform and try all we can to win."

While praising the efforts of youngsters in the side, Dravid quickly pointed out that the support staff had played their part as well. "It was tough for players like Gambhir and RP Singh to come into the side from the sidelines and perform immediately," he said. "But even when they haven't been playing, they have been put through a lot of routines. Some of the drills that Greg and Ian Frazer have introduced have been really good. You get to see some of them on the field, but even off the field they have introduced new methods that have helped."

Chappell too echoed Dravid's sentiments, adding that he was happy with the effort and energy with which the team was preparing for games. "We're happy with the squad," Chappell said. "We have had both immediate and long-term plans and we are happy with the way we are executing both. It's important to keep the group in a good mental and physical state and make sure that all the players are constantly on their toes. We are developing a large pool of players so that those in the team are under pressure from the fringe players. We still need to be rigourous in our methods.

"We're not a great team by any means but are getting close to being a very good side. The good thing is that different players are showing up in each game. They are taking turns to perform and that is a sign of a good side."

He wasn't too perturbed by Sehwag's recent lean patch in one-dayers and elaborated a bit on the important role he is performing in the side. "I'm not overly concerned about Sehwag's form," he said. "Yuvraj went through a similar phase and came back really well in the last game. Sehwag is an allrounder, contributes with his ideas as a vice-captain, and performs a mentoring role for the youngsters. He should ideally be scoring runs for us but even without that, he is playing a vital part."