Best 11 picked, says Chappell

“We wanted to make sure the best eleven would be selected for the match. Experience and knowledge of conditions here were also taken into account,” Chappell told a press conference after the opening day’s play.

Chappell also blamed the media for reading too much into the animated discussion involving him, captain Rahul Dravid and Ganguly before commencement of play.

“We were discussing cricket. I don’t know where all these talks come from. There was nothing of the sort,” he said while describing the chat in the middle during which Ganguly seemed to be the most vocal.

Asked whether Ganguly would open the innings, Chappell responded by saying he did not believe in discussing the batting order with the media. Dravid had said after the toss that the Bengal left-hander would open the innings with Virender Sehwag.

Chappell was wholesome in praise of the Pakistani batsmen when talking about the day’s play during which the Indian bowling was cut to ribbons by Pakistan vice-captain Younis Khan, who cracked an unbeaten 147 and Mohammed Yousuf (95 not out).

“We did not get as many wickets as we would have liked. We did not have a good day in office. Whatever we tried did not work out. Full credit to the Pakistanis, they batted very well,” he said.

“We were hopeful of winning the toss. We would have loved to bat on it. This has been one of the best batting tracks I have seen. Most teams’ bowlers would have struggled,” Chappell said while defending his attack that was taken to the cleaners for 326 runs in 85 overs with only two wickets to show for.

“We did not bowl well in the last session (during which 84 runs came in only 20 overs). They put the pressure on our bowlers and we did not have the resources to respond,” he added.