The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Sometimes we try too hard to win: Ganguly

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 04, 2004

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Sport - Cricket

Sometimes we try too hard to win: Ganguly

By S. Dinakar

CHENNAI, AUG. 3. Even as he was checking out of a city hotel on Tuesday morning with his wife Dona and daughter Sana to board a Kolkata-bound flight, Sourav Ganguly remembered a promise. And the Indian captain is not the kind to go back on his word.

Squeezing out time for an exclusive interview with The Hindu, Ganguly, as always, was frank and forthright in his views.

The fadeout under lights at the Premadasa Stadium on Sunday was a wake-up call for the Indian team ahead of what should be a hectic, demanding season.

While Ganguly admits India has not always played to its potential in the finals, he points out that there have been some exceptions over the last 30 months.

"Firstly, we have to play exceptionally well to reach the final, whether it is the World Cup, the mini World Cup, or in any other competition in any part of the world.

Somehow we have not been able to win enough finals. But we won the NatWest series and two of the finals, in the Champions Trophy and the Tri-nation series in Dhaka, had to be abandoned due to rain. We did not lose them."

The Indian skipper is of the opinion that the decisive game of a two-nation ODI series should also be treated as a final.

"When the score becomes 2-2, the fifth match effectively becomes a final. In Pakistan we were 1-2 down and we came back to win the series 3-2. Against the West Indies in West Indies we were 1-1 getting into the final one-dayer. We went on to win the series."

He goes on: "I think we play well in some finals, and don't play well in some others. But I do concede that we should have won a few more times."

Ganguly believes that the `mind' holds the key for unlocking the door to trophy triumphs.

"I think, sometimes, we try too hard to win in the final. We just do not relax enough mentally before the final and play our normal game. We have the batting to chase 290 or 300, not once, but umpteen number of times. But in the last match we could not even chase 228."

The manner in which the Indians paced their innings in the summit clash of the Asia Cup came under scrutiny.

Over to Ganguly: "We could not rotate the strike. I asked them whether the wicket was so difficult that we consistently could not get singles off ordinary spinners such as Jayasuriya or Chandana.

I understand you can't do that against Muralitharan, but he went for 46 in his nine overs. They said it was not an easy wicket to rotate the strike, because the ball was not coming on."

Dada disappointed

The man they call the `Dada' is hard pressed to hide his disappointment at the batting failure when it mattered. "I understand it was a difficult wicket, especially batting second. The toss is very important in Khettarama. That's the way the Lankans play their cricket. They make slow turners that suit their bowling and that's the reason they don't win once they get out of Sri Lanka. But they are a very strong side in Sri Lanka. That's the way it is."

As captain, Ganguly has to take some tough decisions, such as dropping an accomplished leg-spinner like Anil Kumble for a Cup final. "That was not an easy one. But we realised we had back-up spinners in Sehwag and Tendulkar who had bowled extremely well in the tournament. It is always difficult for you to assess how much the wicket will turn. If the Lankans had known that, they would not have selected a pace bowler in Maharoof, isn't it? They play day in and day out on that wicket. They can ask the groundsman to prepare it the way they want. Still they had three pacers in Vaas, Zoysa and Maharoof."

Not fielding a third paceman on the sub-continental pitches could be a dangerous ploy, warns Ganguly. "When you have only two fast bowlers, and if they go for runs in the first 15 overs, then you are struggling. You do not have anyone to follow up, and you have to introduce a Harbhajan or a Kumble in the eighth or the ninth over. It really becomes difficult for a captain. So considering the balance of the side, we picked three pacemen. Pathan and Nehra bowled well in the final. You must also realise that for the previous match against Sri Lanka on the same ground we picked two spinners, Harbhajan and Kumble. Still they got 267. Zaheer won us that game."

Various bowling options

Ganguly is emphatic that India is not short of resources on the bowling front. "We played three pacemen and a spinner in the final, and Sehwag and Tendulkar are all-rounders in the ODIs. On wickets that are seaming, I can bowl my 10 overs. Not too many sides in the world have so many bowling options. To be honest, the bowlers did not let us down. We did not win because we did not bat well."

Young paceman Lakshmipathy Balaji, who could not quite discover his rhythm during the Asia Cup, has the full backing of the captain. "He's a match-winner. He is definitely a part of the side. There should not be any questions raised about Balaji. He's had just one ordinary tournament. It can happen to anybody."

The captain is clear in his mind that Rahul Dravid, despite a few voices of dissent, should continue 'keeping wickets in the ODIs. "That is the only solution. We don't look the same side without Dravid 'keeping. He gives you batting depth. And what's wrong with his 'keeping? He's not dropping catches, he's not missing stumpings and he's scoring runs. So where's the problem? If we find somebody like Mark Boucher or Kumara Sangakkara, let's forget Adam Gilchrist for a moment, we will surely play him. We don't have anyone else. Parthiv Patel has done very well in Tests, but not so in the ODIs."

Will pick up steam

He is confident that India, shaking away the early season blues, will pick up steam in the three-nation tournament in Holland and in the Champions Trophy. "This team has done outstandingly well, whether in Australia or Pakistan, and we can understand the feelings of the people when it does not win. The expectations are high from this team. At the moment we need to improve in all areas. We have some interesting cricket ahead of us in August and September and I am sure the pieces will fall in place."

Soon it is time for him to hold little Sana in his arms. A daring captain or a caring father, Ganguly can slip into his role rather effortlessly.

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