Date:06/03/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/03/06/stories/2006030609532000.htm

Sport - Cricket

Ganguly has a point to prove

Rakesh Rao

JAIPUR: A beleaguered Sourav Ganguly will be in the like-minded company of those playing for pride when the East-Central Deodhar Trophy match takes place at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium here on Monday.

A brief spell of showers on an otherwise sunny Sunday afternoon brought down the mercury without threatening the fate of the match. So far in the competition, East has lost both its matches and remains without a point. Central was a rung below after losing all three and conceding a bonus point to South to be at - 1.

Media attention

The continued presence of Ganguly has ensured more public and media attention to the domestic games involving Bengal or East Zone. Expected to arrive late on Sunday evening, Ganguly will remain out of bounds for mediapersons, just like he was in Gwalior last week. Ganguly's desperation to come good in the two remaining matches is somewhat different than those aspiring to hit the headlines. With every good performance in domestic cricket, Ganguly wishes to give his supporters a reason to back his case. He is determined to turn the clock back and force his way into the Indian middle-order. After all, every collective batting failure of India in Tests, in turn, keeps alive Ganguly's hopes of a possible comeback.

Ganguly's 146-ball 81 and none for 29 off four overs against West at Gwalior in the previous match reflect his desire to try out all options. On Monday, the left-hander has the best chance to do better as an all-rounder. After all, Central's bowlers and batsmen have struggled alike in the past week.

Looking ahead to the contest, East's skipper Deep Dasgupta respected Central's record in the one-day game and said, "just like West had three good days in the tournament so far, Central had three bad ones. But that does not mean there is such a huge difference among the teams. It will be a good game since the teams will be keen to win and avoid the possibility of finishing last.

Big stage

"Without doubt, this is a big stage and performances do get noticed. So no one is going to take things easy at this level," said Dasgupta. Central's skipper and another comeback-aspirant J.P. Yadav admitted that he was finding it extremely difficult to motivate his players. "I am asking the boys to give their best so that Central finishes the campaign with a win. So far, our batting has been a big letdown. The absence of Murali Kartik has affected our attack. Harvinder Singh and I do our bit for 20 overs but thereafter, it is difficult to keep things tight for the other 30. On one hand, I want to play the full-strength team and win at least one game. On the other, I feel, since we have lost three matches, it is a good opportunity to try out the new boys," said Yadav as he shared his predicament.

Central has replaced injured Kartik and Gagan Khoda with U.P.'s Jyoti Yadav and Vidarbha's mediumpacer Sandeep Singh. Ratnesh Mishra, who hurt his finger against South on Friday, Amit Pagnis and Devendra Bundela are among the doubtful starters on Monday.

The teams:

Central Zone: J.P. Yadav (captain), Shivakant Shukla, T.P. Singh, Praveen Kumar, Abbas Ali, Amit Pagnis, Devendra Bundela, Ravikant Shukla, Samir Khare, Dishyant Yagnik, Madhusudan Acharya, Harvinder Singh, Ratnesh Mishra, Jyoti Yadav and Sandeep Singh.

East Zone: Deep Dasgupta (captain), Sourav Ganguly, Subhomoy Das, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Rohan Gavaskar, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Manoj Tiwari, Sib Sagar Singh, Shib Sankar Paul, Ranadev Bose, S. Vasanth Saravanan, Rajiv Kumar, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mihir Diwakar and Timir Chanda.