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This one is special: Ganguly

By Our Special Correspondent

ADELAIDE Dec. 16. "Rahul (Dravid) batted like a god. I'm not surprised at the way he played. He is a role model for a lot of sportsmen back in India. It is a treat to watch the way he prepares for the game, works on his game. I'm happy for him,'' said Sourav Ganguly while praising the man he also fondly calls the "champion.''

"I've been in Australia in 1999 as vice-captain, and I saw the dressing room then. And I see the dressing room now. That gives a lot of satisfaction over a span of three years,'' said Ganguly, summing up the emotions of the dressing room and the celebrations that followed as India beat Australia by four wickets in the second Test here.

"Eden Gardens was special. Headingley also. This one is special too,'' said Ganguly. Reflecting on the match, the Indian skipper noted: "We played better than them in the last three days. We have to play better than them to win consistently. Australia is a quality side and comes hard at you but we know we can beat the best team in the world.''

Patting his teammates, Ganguly said, "There are some tough characters in the side. They may not look so from the outside, they may look soft and gentle, but we have some tough characters. Laxman, Dravid, Agarkar, Kumble, Sehwag... they are all pretty tough characters. They know what it means winning overseas.''

Ganguly warned against complacency. "All of us have to lift our game if we have to win in Australia. Ajit has put in his best bowling performance. Dravid has batted like a god. Laxman, Sehwag, myself, Zaheer have all lifted our games. We have to bowl as a unit and press more fast bowlers into the game as quickly as possible.''

The Indian captain then assessed his team's position in the rankings. "We are the second best side in the world at present. If we can win the series, which we believe we can, we could take the top spot. A lot of Australian players are finishing and they will probably go through a building stage.''

Dravid, the hero of the match, looked drained. "I'm quite tired. More mentally than physically. It's a happy feeling. A strange feeling.''

Acknowledging it as his best Test performance, Dravid said: "Looking back on Kolkata gives so much joy. At the moment, I have very few emotions but maybe when I'm finished and I have a chance to sit back, this victory will mean a lot as well. The emotions after Kolkata were unbelievable.''

On his knock, Dravid said: "I knew runs would not be easy in this (second) innings as in the first. I just wanted to stay as long as possible and play positive cricket. We looked at building partnerships because we just knew it was going to be our day. It was hard at stages. It was hard to keep motivating myself, refocusing myself. I knew it was going to be just a few more hours of hard work. They (bowlers) gave us a great opportunity and I just didn't want to let them down.''

Dravid gave credit to the Australians too. "The intensity of the Australians could be seen. They showed why they are such a good side. They were just trying so hard, right through the day and kept it really competitive. It was great to be part of that contest.

"I feel happy for every guy in the dressing room. We have been together for a long time,'' was Dravid's parting shot.

Australian skipper Steve Waugh said his team would bounce back. "It's a challenge but India did it on the last day of the tour there. They came back to win the final two Tests at Kolkata and Chennai. There is no reason why we can't do it but yes, it's a big ask. You are allowed to lose a Test match.

"We have had a pretty good run. We just needed more runs. If we had got 30-40 more runs we could have been in a position to win the match.''

Waugh all praise for India and Dravid

The Aussie skipper praised India. "They are a quality side. We had said that before the start of the series. India has a world-class batting line-up and an emerging side.''

On Dravid, Waugh said, "He has outstanding concentration, magnificent technique. He played two magnificent innings. It is very hard to come back after a big double hundred. He spent so much time in the middle and to do that again today was good. He struggled with his first 20 or 30 which is but natural but when he settled in, he was very difficult to get out with a straight bat.''

Waugh went on: "The Indians have obviously learnt from the last tour. After losing the first Test and coming back, they showed a lot of character. They are mentally tough to come back into situations. Their players are stronger mentally and physically.''

However, Waugh defended his bowlers saying, "It was difficult for those bowlers to take wickets on that sort of pitch. I was pretty happy with the way our bowlers performed. You are missing world-class bowlers obviously. Yesterday (Monday) was a very bad day and it cost us a lot.''

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