da prosport bet： “It is going to be a tough tour,” began Indian captain Sourav Ganguly,stating the obvious
Anand Vasu16-Jul-2001″It is going to be a tough tour,” began Indian captain Sourav Ganguly,stating the obvious. “New Zealand and Sri Lanka are both especiallygood One-Day sides and we have to play well to beat them,” hecontinued, in the same vein, talking to pressmen at the ‘Le Meredien’hotel in Chennai. Shortly before the team departed for Sri Lanka, thecaptain, coach and manager held a joint press conference on Monday.As expected, the fact that Sachin Tendulkar would not be with the teamfor the first part of the tour held more attention than anything else.”Obviously we’ll miss Tendulkar. A player of his class is tough toreplace, but at least I’m happy he’ll be back by the middle of thetour,” said Ganguly. Talking about the injury, Ganguly went on to add,”these things happen in cricket and there’s nothing you can do aboutit. One has to learn to play without any player, whether it’sTendulkar or someone else. That’s the challenge.”The fact that Tendulkar played the final of the Coca-Cola Cup inZimbabwe and soon after announced his injury raised a few eyebrows.Why was the injury not disclosed earlier, asked a few people. “He justscored a century in the game before the final and felt confidentenough to play. Tendulkar is an experienced player and he felt goodenough to play despite his niggling injury,” answered Ganguly.If Tendulkar’s omission was a hot topic, his replacement AmayKhurasiya was another talking point. The flashy Madhya Pradeshsouthpaw makes a return to the team almost out of the blue. Gangulyhowever did not see things that way. “He’s been doing very well indomestic cricket. Moreover I feel he’s a more attacking player thaneither Shiv Sunder Das or Sadagoppan Ramesh and that is what you needin the One-Dayers,” explained Ganguly. At the same time, Ganguly had aword of praise for Hemang Badani, “He’s a good player and a brightprospect for Indian cricket. A great future investment for the team,”said the skipper of his ward.After taking over as the coach of the Indian team, John Wright will beup against his home side New Zealand for the first time in theforthcoming Coca-Cola Cup in Sri Lanka. For the former Kiwi openerhowever, it was business as usual. “I don’t think playing New Zealandwill be any different from playing someone else. I’m more interestedin seeing India beat New Zealand and Sri Lanka,” said the coach.”After all, it’s my job to help India win,” ended Wright. When it wassuggested that the Indian team lacked consistency, Wright was quick toreply. “I don’t think you should look too much at individualperformances. If the team keeps winning, then that’s the mostimportant thing. I don’t really accept the statement that the Indianteam is inconsistent,” said Wright, putting an end to that line ofquestioning.On the whole, the press conference was a routine affair, with captainand coach answering questions in a matter of fact way and withoutcontroversy. The one factor that gave the whole affair a formal airand even tension was the large number of policemen uniformed andotherwise hovering about the Indian captain. Ganguly, who was recentlygiven Z-category security after threats from a militant group wasescorted everywhere he went. With walkie-talkies buzzing and metaldetectors all over the place one wondered if the security arrangementsput additional pressure on the leader of the Indian side. “I’m underno pressure at all on account of the threats to my life,” said Gangulyfirmly. With Tendulkar out of action and Ganguly showing a glimmer ofhis old self, one certainly hopes he’s right.