Ganguly seeks Gavaskar's advice to tide over batting blues

Staff Reporter

April 8, 2001

The captain of the Indian cricket team Saurav Ganguly said on his return to Kolkata on Saturday night that he will seek the advice of Sunil Gavaskar on his batting. Although Ganguly led the Indian team to a great Test series win against Australia, he failed with the bat, averaging 17.66 in the Tests and 18.6 in the one-dayers. The only notable contributions from his bat were a knock of 48 in the second innings of the Kolkata Test and the 74 that he scored in the final one-day match at Goa. "I did not express my pain simply because the Australians would have taken advantage of it. However, I really felt bad because of the batting failures. The entire team was contributing and as the captain, I had nothing to offer. And then again the only match that I scored some runs India lost," said Ganguly.

Ganguly feels that there may be some problems as far as technique goes. And for that reason he would like to meet Sunil Gavaskar. "He is the best person to approach. I will definitely request him to help me out." However, there is another reason for which he wants to meet up with Gavaskar: to thank him for his inspiring columns. "When the entire media had been criticizing us, he was the only person to constantly inspire the team. He was always very supportive. His words were always very encouraging and for that I would like to thank him on behalf of the team," said Ganguly. It was here that he also praised the Australian media for the way they stood by their side. "I am not saying that they were always very fair. But they way they tried to help their side, was really very good. I wish our media acted in the same manner."

For the moment, it will be rest for Ganguly. However, in this period, he will work hard at the nets to erase the faults in his batting. "I have only one target at present. That is to score some runs and achieve an away win in the series against Zimbabwe. To achieve that I am really going to work very hard." Ganguly also stated that he always felt the Indians had a chance against Australia. "Simply because, I knew that they were weak against off-spin and I had tremendous faith in the abilities of Harbhajan Singh. He is really a class player and he will also succeed in the shorter version of the game as he did in the Test series. Like V.V.S. Laxman did. He is also a class act and he proved it by coming good in the Tests and the one-dayers."

Meanwhile, the Indian coach John Wright in an interview to a Kolkata daily has stated that he would like to have an `intense six-day conditioning camp' just before the away series against Zimbabwe. Wright, who will be off to New Zealand very shortly to enjoy a holiday has also stated that he would like to work on the fitness levels and the fielding of the Indian cricketers. "The Australians were the perfect example of quality fitness. Look at Glenn McGrath. He played all three Tests and five one-dayers. It just goes to show how good they were as far as physical endurance was concerned."

Wright also stated that the team would have to work on handling the first 15 overs and the last 10 overs of the innings more productively. "There are certain shortcomings during these two periods. I have noted them and plan to work on them so that as a team we achieve more success." He added that he would like to have players in the team with an `attitude'. And as an example Wright mentioned the names of Samir Dighe and Virendra Shewag. "Even after a horrendous experience behind the stumps, Dighe batted like a champion during the second innings at Chennai. Shewag bowled with a broken finger in Bangalore. It is this never say die spirit that differentiates between winning and losing."

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