The Hindu : Australia is not invincible, says Ganguly

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 22, 2003

Sport

Sport - World Cup

Australia is not invincible, says Ganguly

Johannesburg March 21 . Not even a single player in the Indian squad knows what exactly it feels like to play in a World Cup final but skipper Sourav Ganguly and his men are determined not to be overwhelmed by the big occasion.

The Wanderers Stadium, reverberating with thousands of throaty fans, and a lifetime occasion of a World Cup final are certainly enough to unnerve the best but the Indian side, playing in the World Cup final for the first time in 20 years, is keen to overcome all odds and upset the applecart of Australia in the title clash on Sunday.

Ganguly has exhorted his men to show spirit and a do-or-die approach but a World Cup final could still bring a few nerves to the fore, more so when nobody going into the Sunday's game would have the experience of a stage as big as that.

Sachin Tendulkar and Javagal Srinath are the only two of the Indian eleven who have come closest to such a feeling, having taken part in the semifinals against Sri Lanka in Calcutta during the 1996 World Cup.

The Indian team understands the importance of relaxing before a big game and on two occasions the team members have been given breaks of two days at a stretch to get away from cricket.

The Indians have religiously followed the practice of having no nets on the day after a match and there has not been any change in the plan even when they are faced with the final now.

The Indian cricketers also flock to a volleyball game before each practice session and coach John Wright says it has improved bonding within the team.

Ganguly's confidence stemmed from the belief that the defending champion had some weak links which could be exploited to India's advantage.

``Every team has a bit of weakness. The top order of Australia has scored heavily in the last six-seven months.

``But if we can get them out early, it does expose the middle a bit,'' Ganguly said.

Emphasising that it would be ``wrong to write off India's chances'', Ganguly said he could not wait to find out if Australia was really the best one-day team in the world.

``We will find out on Sunday if Australia is the best side in the world. There is no reason why we cannot beat them,'' said the Indian skipper.

``We are the only side to have beaten them before and stopped their winning run in the Tests. Of course we have to play really well to beat them and similarly they need to be at the top of their game to beat us,'' an upbeat Ganguly said.

Ganguly said the current World Cup had dished out high quality cricket while crediting his team as well as Australia for producing better cricket than most of the other teams.

``It has been a high quality tournament but India and Australia have played better cricket than the rest.

``We have done well to beat most sides and it has been one-sided too. We now have won eight games in a row and it does tell about our strength,'' he said.

Ganguly, who has had a good World Cup with three hundreds and an overall aggregate of 441 from 10 matches, admitted that his form was affected at times but attributed it to the pressures of captaincy.

``There are times when I have played below potential. As a captain you could have a lot of things in the mind. If you ask captains, most would say their batting suffered a bit after they took the job.

``But I am happy I have fired in this competition and struck a hundred in a World Cup semifinals,'' said the stylish left-hand bat.

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