Ganguly: I was getting frustrated at number six
Special Correspondent - 11 April 2002
He was dropped from the Guyana Test on India's last tour of the West Indies in 1996-97. This time around he will walk out to toss with Carl Hooper on the very same ground.
For Sourav Ganguly, the captain of the Indian team, that is a great feeling. And, "by the grace of God," as he puts it, he has always come back stronger at the places where he was dropped earlier. Remember Toronto? He earned four consecutive Man of the Match awards in his second Sahara Cup after being dropped for a couple of matches in the first one.
But this is a different ball game altogether, and he will have to best the average Caribbean bowling attack to ensure a good first-innings total for the team, coming in at number three.
With one more Test victory, he will be the most successful Indian captain on foreign soil. At the moment he has three victories, the same as MAK Pataudi, Bishen Singh Bedi and Sunil Gavaskar. This is his and his team's best opportunity to do so. Twenty-four hours before the first Test, he chatted exclusively with our correspondent:
Do you remember being dropped from the Guyana Test in 1997?
Of course, yes. I can never forget that. It keeps pinching me every time I look back at the previous tour. Believe me, it will be a great feeling when I'll be going out with Carl Hooper to toss the coin for the first time. It is a coincidence, but a wonderful one, I must admit.
Do you think your team is capable of winning a test series in the Caribbean?
Definitely. Ours is a much stronger team than the team touring here in 1997, especially in the bowling department. We have two of the finest spinners of modern-day cricket, and Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan are operating in tandem with the new ball. It is quite a balanced attack and capable of taking 20 wickets to win us a Test match. In 1997, Sri [Srinath] was not there, neither was Harbhajan. So we are hopeful.
But will Harbhajan play in the first Test?
I hope so, if he is fully fit to play. I don't want to aggravate the injury by picking him when he is not fully fit to take the strains of five days of cricket. It is up to our physio to take the final decision tomorrow morning.
It seems that you are destined not to play the full team you desire abroad. Anil Kumble played under you first in the South African tour, Sachin Tendulkar and Srinath were missing from the Sri Lankan tour...
What can I do about it? It really hurts. But at the same time, you must not forget that we are playing throughout the year, and anybody can pick injuries. We should be prepared for that. But there are some positions you just cannot fill up. Bhajji [Harbhajan] was an integral part of our planning. If he misses the Test, we will have to change our strategy.
Then will you be playing with three seamers and Kumble?
That is yet not finalised. At the moment we are not ruling out the possibility of playing Bhajji at Guyana. If he is not available, then of course we will have to think otherwise.
Will India continue with Deep Dasgupta at the top of the order?
Why not? He is averaging nearly 40 in Tests as an opener, and that is enough for the team management to allow him one more chance. He deserves it. I know he was not tidy behind the stumps in the recently concluded series. But keeping to Anil [Kumble] and Bhajji on Indian wickets is always tougher for a newcomer. I hope he will keep better here. And you cannot drop a performing opener who showed tremendous guts in South Africa.
You had said that Rahul Dravid would get back his number three spot after the Delhi Test. Will that be true, or you will continue at that position?
I think I will continue. We need Rahul to play the second new ball at the bottom of the innings. And personally I was getting frustrated waiting so long to bat in Tests, especially after opening the innings in one-dayers. My vice-captain has faith in me to allow me one or two more opportunities.
You did not come here with the team. A section of the media was not at all happy at that. Your reactions?
I simply fail to understand why there is such a furore about it. If your wife is ailing, isn't it your duty to be beside her bed for as much time as you can? I just did that and came here right before the tour-opener. Not only that, I did play in that match too. Yes, I didn't come with the team, but there were some unavoidable reasons, and I took the permission of the Board president. That is enough, I suppose.
But what about playing so slowly in the limited over match following the first class match here?
We were trying to spend as much time at the wicket as possible. There was only one preparatory match before the first Test. The batsmen wanted to have a feel of the wickets here. That is why they played so slowly. It was in the interest of the team.
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