Ganguly has found the right combination

By Vijay Lokapally

JODHPUR, DEC. 7. Indian cricket has begun to assert itself. So has the Indian captain, who believes he has found the combination which can carry the side through to the next World Cup in South Africa. At least that is the impression he has been giving through his public statements, at times brash, but honest like the man he is.

Sourav Ganguly is clearly on a mission, using the series against Zimbabwe to assess the ammunition at his disposal. Like a true leader, he has been backing his young brigade and at times taking on the establishment too, as in the case of demanding Saba Karim and Harbhajan Singh. Ganguly wants to be different from the previous three captains.

There has been talk of youngsters beginning to find their moorings in the side. With two victories in the five-match one- day series behind them, there is an understandable boost in he confidence level. There is a fresh surge of activity to improve the fielding and running between the wickets even though the drills claimed a victim today, Shiv Sunder Das hurting his thigh muscle.

``He had not warmed up properly. But I tell you he is a good find,'' said Ganguly, who added that Das and Nikhil Chopra do not figure in the 12 for this match and the choice would be between S. Sriram and Reetinder Singh Sodhi.

Praise for the boys

The Indians want to learn and improve. Good signs indeed. ``It is good that the boys are accepting their mistakes and not making excuses. You must see the keenness in them to succeed. We have started to play as a unit and another gain has been the improvement in the fielding department,'' the Indian skipper continued to paint a rosy picture.

The fact that Hemang Badani came good gladdened Ganguly. Incidentally, Yuveraj Singh, the blue-eyed boy of his skipper, hardly did his reputation any good this morning, flinging his helmet, cap and bat around in disgust at the `nets'. It is time he scored some runs too. But Ganguly had praise for him and Badani, who, the skipper noted, had loads of talent. Wicketkeeper Vijay Dahiya also came in for lavish praise from the skipper. ``A very good performer,'' he said of Dahiya and added, ``but it would be too early to judge all of them. They have to learn to play under pressure because success brings pressure and tests your levels of consistency.''

Reflecting on his 144 in the last match, Ganguly observed that he was happy with his form even though he was missing a few things. ``As a player, you don't think for others but a captain has a huge involvement. I don't have free time at all in the evening,'' he remarked.

What about reports that he had acquired an arrogant look after assuming captaincy. ``No, I haven't'' Ganguly exploded. ``My job is to keep the players alert on the field. I have to keep pushing them. You win as a team and lose as a team. As a captain, I back them till the end and try to get the best out of them,'' he explained. What of his aggressive statements? ``If you don't talk, they say the captain doesn't communicate. When you talk, they say he has become arrogant. There has to be some yardstick.''

But he was enjoying his stint as captain. ``The pressure is there, but the boys are fantastic. It is the best unit I have seen. They make my job easier because cricket is the priority for all of us. The hunger to win is great,'' Ganguly concluded.

Bowling remains Streak's worry

Cricket also has been the priority for the Zimbabweans, who squeezed in time to dash off to see the Taj after the Delhi Test and the fort here. Skipper Heath Streak spoke of the need to have discipline in the bowling department. ``We have been batting well but the bowlers have let us down. We have to restrict India to a realistic total. We have to bowl the right line and length because we have been giving away too many easy runs. We have to force the batsmen to play their shots,'' Streak had a long list of things to do.

The onus is clearly on seniors like Andy Flower and Alistair Campbell, the latter having the capacity to turn the match around. They hold the key to Zimbabwe's hopes of posting a stiff target to the opposition on a pitch which is likely to get slower in the second half of the match. ``The pitches here haven't suited our bowlers. We have to learn from our mistakes,'' Streak stressed.

Streak indicated a change in the batting order to give a thrust at the top, even as he said that left-arm spinner Dirk Viljoen was ruled out because of groin injury. Ajit Agarkar returns to the Indian eleven after missing the last match at Ahmedabad due to a side strain.

This will be the first one-day international at this venue, the Barkatullah Stadium. Despite the usual chaos that surround such events at any centre in India, the organisers have done a good job. The stadium was spruced up amidst high expectations of a close contest. The two skippers have promised just that!

The teams (from):

India: Sourav Ganguly (Capt.), Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Yuveraj Singh, Hemang Badani, Vijay Dahiya, Sunil Joshi, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Venkatesh Prasad, Reetinder Singh Sodhi and S. Sriram.

Zimbabwe: Heath Streak (Capt.), Guy Whittall, Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Alistair Campbell, Stuart Carlisle, Gavin Rennie, Douglas Marillier, Travis Friend, Trevor Madondo, Mluleki Nkala, Brian Murphy, Bryan Strang and Henry Olonga.

Umpires: Messrs S.K. Bansal and C.R. Mohite; Third umpire: Mr. S. Banerjee; Fourth umpire: Mr. Francis Gomes; Match Referee: Mr. Barry Jarman.

Hours of play: 9 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.; 1.10 p.m. onwards.

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