> Chappell clears the air

India coach Greg Chappell attempted to douse the fire that he inadvertently set off on Sunday evening. "I have been totally misquoted," he told TOI. "I meant absolutely no disrespect to anybody. That was never my intention," he said.

He pointed out that a number of questions are asked during media conferences. "I was dutifully trying to respond to this one too. Just like we are doing our duty out here, they also have a duty to do," he said. "It should been taken in that spirit alone."

Munaf's ankle still sore, unlikely to play: The Indian team may well have to do without Munaf Patel even in the fourth ODI here. According to sources, his ankle hasn't healed completely and the medical staff is not keen for him to play. He arrived to the ground along with the team on Tuesday morning too but it didn't look like he had got his kit.

Team sources confirmed that he was definitely out. It is also learnt that Laxman will not be considered for this game either. The slot vacated by Dravid is now likely to go either to Suresh Raina or Dinesh Mongia.

Can't stop Dravid: Rahul Dravid may be unavailable for the remainder of the ODI series but he remained an integral part of the team. He stuck to his usual routine even as the rest of the team had a hard and long training session.

Dravid wanted to come back from Cape Town on Monday evening itself but couldn't due to lack of seats in any flight. He kept a close eye on the batsmen and even had a long chat with one or two of them. In the end, he came along with Chappell to study the pitch first hand.

Raina's birthday: Suresh Raina's birthday was celebrated in a quiet, almost discreet manner on Monday evening. "We didn't do anything. We all just went over to his room and cut the cake. That's it," a source said.
Indiatimes