The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : A disappointing loss: Ganguly

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 29, 2005

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Sport - Cricket

A disappointing loss: Ganguly

By K.C. Vijaya Kumar

BANGALORE, MARCH 28. The lights were bright but Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly was understandably grim after Pakistan won the third and final Test. "I have been captain for more than 40 Tests and I have nothing to prove. It is for the selectors to decide. I need to score runs whether I am captain or not. I have scored runs in both forms of the game and get my confidence from that. All I wanted today was to bat but it did not work. It is hard being a captain and not scoring runs," Ganguly admitted in a post-match press conference here on Monday evening.

Collapse, the reason

Ganguly said the collapse after lunch was the reason for India's defeat. "We were one wicket down at lunch and in a good position to save the Test. But after lunch a few good balls and some bad batting affected us, but due credit to the Pakistan team for playing well. The fall of wickets took the tempo away and we got a bit defensive. It is disappointing to lose this Test after leading 1-0," Ganguly said.

Inzamam delighted

Minutes after Ganguly finished his chat with the media, Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq walked in with a barely-concealed grin.

He was upbeat after guiding his team to a series-levelling victory against India in his 100th Test besides scoring a century.

"It is a good victory that will give confidence to the youngsters. Winning the toss was crucial as it is not easy to bat on the fifth day on this pitch. It was surprising that the Indians went on the defensive after lunch and we had to be aggressive always," Inzamam said.

Inzamam also praised the efforts of Younis Khan, Danish Kaneria, Mohammed Sami and Shahid Afridi in ensuring a victory for Pakistan. "It is not easy to come back and win against the home team in a series but my team did that and I am proud of it. This was the same team that was labelled as the weakest team to leave Pakistan and then to achieve so much here is a matter of pride for all of us," Inzamam said.

"Shoaib Akhtar is our strike bowler but he is injured and in his absence our back-up bowlers have done a great job," Inzamam added.

Ganguly and Inzamam predicted a closely-fought one-day series that will commence on April 2 at Kochi.

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