The Hindu : Australia tour will be a real test of our ability: Ganguly

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 17, 2003

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Australia tour will be a real test of our ability: Ganguly

By S. Dinakar

Hyderabad Nov. 16. It was a long, dark night and when skipper Sourav Ganguly finally emerged from a seemingly endless selection meeting that picked the Indian Test squad for the Australian tour, here, in the early hours of Sunday, he appeared relaxed and at ease, despite a groin strain, and a daunting campaign ahead.

The skipper had words of sympathy for left-arm spinner Murali Kartik, who narrowly lost out on a place, and dwelt on the young crop of pacemen.

The Indian captain spoke to The Hindu about the Australian journey in an exclusive interview.

Ganguly is realistic about the challenge. "They really are at the top of their game. It's going to be a hard tour. This will be a real test of our ability. All of us, the batters, the bowlers and the fielders, will have to lift our game to compete against a very, very good side."

The skipper shifted his attention to the Aussie pace attack. "Their records speak for themselves. McGrath is very disciplined. He is at you. Brett Lee is quick, Gillespie is on the sharper side. They bowl well together, as a group. Their fielding and catching add to the strengths of the bowlers."

The Indians received a pounding in the Tests when they toured Australia last, in 1999-2000, but Ganguly believes that several of the cricketers from that team, especially the batsmen, had more experience in coping with extra bounce.

" We are all more matured players now. We have delivered all over the world, this is where we want to deliver."

He also says the side is better equipped in the pace bowling department, a key ingredient for scoring away Test victories. "We will obviously miss Javagal Srinath. But the young pacemen have done well overseas. To be honest, they will be bowling at some quality batsmen."

Here, Ganguly sees a sliver lining. "The Australian batsmen are going to come hard at them. That is going to give our pacemen an opportunity to pick wickets."

The captain is impressed with the new kid on the block - Avishkar Salvi. "I have a lot of faith in Salvi. He gets close to the stumps, has got his basics right. Zaheer and Nehra are quality bowlers, move the ball both ways, have a bit of pace."

Ganguly says that despite the pitches down under possessing bounce, the length of the Indian bowlers should be up. "They will have to pitch it up, not allow them to play the horizontal bat strokes at which they are so good."

The ODIs on the Indian pitches, that are generally high-scoring, should not be a yard-stick to judge the performances of the pacemen, the captain makes it known. "Even the Aussies nearly conceded 300 runs the other day. Our bowlers went for a lot of runs in the ODI series at home against the West Indies last season, but it was a different cup of tea when we toured New Zealand and for most part of the World Cup."

The Australians, in general, are not the best players of off-spin and Ganguly feels Harbhajan Singh will be a definite factor.

The man who lays much stress on aggression, points out, "We have had a lot of young boys who are aggressive and who want to win. But your talent, your determination, how much you want to give to the side also matters. It's a combination."

On the question of gamesmanship and sledging, especially by the Aussies, the skipper replies that his men would not be overly concerned. " We have enough good players to handle that. We need to concentrate on our game, on our work ethics."

On the Indian batsmen needing to be positive in order to deny the Aussie bowlers from dominating them mentally, Ganguly is quick with an answer. "We are all stroke-makers. Rahul is probably a different sort of player, but he has a wonderful record overseas."

The `Dada' makes it clear that the `Big Four' - Tendulkar, Dravid, himself and Laxman - had a huge responsibility - "Our performances will decide how we do in the series." Ganguly has a lot of faith in Virender Sehwag too. "He has a Test hundred in South Africa. Obviously, he is comfortable with bounce. He can play the cut shot."

On the two specialist openers in the squad, comeback man Sadagopan Ramesh and Akash Chora, Ganguly is optimistic. "Ramesh is definitely in contention for a Test place. Akash has played two Tests, and has looked good, but you got to improve in international cricket every time you play, and he's got to do that to survive."

The captain is clear in his mind that Rahul Dravid 'keeping wickets in the ODIs is essential for India, since the side does not have a genuine all-rounder or a 'keeper who could bat in the ODIs. "He has had problems in a couple of games in this series, and that's only because he has not kept for nearly six months. For most part of last year, Dravid kept as well as any 'keeper would. We wanted to give Parthiv, an outstanding 'keeper, an opportunity, but the balance of the side gets affected. It's different in Test cricket, where a `keeper would have to do the job for a long time. Can't even think of Dravid 'keeping in Tests. It would be a waste of his batting ability."

Asked about his own batting coming under microscope despite a creditable Test record and an out of the ordinary one in ODIs, Ganguly is forthcoming. "I have scored nearly four and a half thousand runs in Test cricket. Some greats in Indian cricket also average only as much. My one-day record has been outstanding over the last seven to eight years. I have scored nearly 9000 runs in the one-day Internationals. I know till the time I play for India, I will have to perform. Every Test and an ODI is a new game for me."

He goes on. "Some people fail to realise that I have started at No. 6 a lot of times in Tests. On many an occasion, it has been a case of remaining not out, a declaration or that the tail has not stood up. I have suffered a bit because of that, but that's part and parcel of sports. Somebody has to bat at that number. I have never looked at it that way. I want to improve as a player. I am 30, I have a lot of cricket ahead of me."

The captain is the man in the hot seat, but Ganguly is emphatic that he is not bothered by all the criticism. "You are going to have people who are going to like you and who are not going to like you. At the end of the day, your life has to go on, your cricket has to go on. I just take it in my stride and go ahead with my life. In the beginning, I probably felt some pressure, that's not the case now."

Ganguly is excited at the prospect of India touring Pakistan in March 2004. "That is going to a big tour, probably even bigger than Australia. India going to Pakistan after so many years. It's going to be emotional. The whole cricketing world would be watching."

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport