The Hindu : Rival captains confident

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 26, 2003

Sport

Sport - World Cup

Rival captains confident

By Our Special Correspondent

DURBAN FEB. 25. Will Sourav Ganguly do a repeat of Lord's? Not just winning, but taking his shirt off. When prompted by former England seamer Derek Pringle, who asked the India skipper thrice "will you bare your very male torso if India wins this very crucial match?'', Ganguly, evidently irked, just murmured "wait and see tomorrow.''

The English have not forgotten the Ganguly act at Lord's when he took off his shirt on the Lord's balcony in an emotional gesture after winning the NatWest Trophy final against England last summer.

It was nice to see Ganguly sport a smile. He looked relaxed ahead of the day-night fixture and had some routine answers to some routine questions. "Good pitch, 50-50 game, very good opposition, will decide the team only after seeing the pitch and the weather.'' Same mundane answers to some mundane questions.

The India skipper promised to cope with the pitch if things became tough. And then he also revealed that all 22 players on the field were important. This after he described Virender Sehwag as a "top quality player'' and "still the key man in the team.'' Where do Sachin Tendulkar and Ganguly stand if Sehwag is to be the key man?

Then Ganguly gave the usual "confidence is high and we're geared up'' response to a question on fitness and the mood in the dressing room. Ashish Nehra, according to the skipper, was "fit'' but a final decision regarding his availability would be taken only tomorrow. And then we were told how this was a "new day, new game'' and how we could expect a good game on Wednesday.

England skipper Nasser Hussain was no different. "Every game is important. Can't take any game lightly. No grudge game against India. We've had some quality matches between India and England and I expect the same tomorrow.''

On the tactics for the match, Hussain said he would love to include a spinner and looked forward to the match. "We haven't been tested yet. The real test is when Sachin and India's batting line-up are coming at you.'' Michael Vaughan, according to Hussain, has a niggling calf injury, but the chances are that he would be playing. On Marcus Trescothick, he said "I back him every time he bats.'' The skippers agreed it was a crucial encounter for both the teams and one could expect high quality cricket.

Before leaving the room, Ganguly dismissed suggestions that he had some problems with Hussain. "We get along well,'' As for the Indian fans, they would not mind an encore of Lord's balcony from Ganguly— taking off his shirt and gesturing wildly after an Indian win.

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