Mumbai, March 22: After losing the third Test by 212 runs, Indian captain Rahul Dravid admitted he had goofed up when he won the toss and chose to field first. "Yes, when you look at the result, I would definitely like to change the decision," he said at the post-game interaction with the press. Excerpts:
On the team composition: We took five bowlers out of which three were seamers, whom we relied on to get some early wickets and put England under pressure. But England batted well and at the end of the first day we knew we were on the backfoot.
We made a decision to go in with five batsmen and five bowlers. That is the way we are looking ahead. Five bowlers are important to our combination… we need some good contributions from our top order if we have to win matches abroad and be competitive.
On the top order: It did not bat well in both the innings. I don’t think this was a 100 all out wicket. We batted poorly in the second innings after some great work by our bowlers yesterday. We just didn’t deliver in this match.
On the match itself: I was very happy with the way we bowled yesterday. Even today we were quite positive, our plan was to hold wickets till lunch or tea and then give it the charge in the last session. It is not easy to chase in India on the last day when the ball is turning. We were okay till lunch but to lose two quick wickets after lunch was too much for us.
On whether England were underestimated: I don’t think we have ever underestimated them. England has been a good side and has played around the sub-continent. They are a competitive lot.
On Andrew Flintoff: Every time he went out to bat, he scored runs and was their best bowler on view right through the series. He kept coming at us hard and it must have been difficult for him to bowl, bat and captain the side. I think he did a great job as a captain.