Maybe Ganguly also thinks he is a chucker but he doesn't want it to be known.Read at the end of this article.
Wright-handed compliment
By: Debashis Datta
March 5, 2003
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Cape Town: Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has credited the team’s success to the three foreigners close to the team — coach John Wright, physiotherapist Andrew Leipus and physical instructor Adrian Le Roux.
“All of them are without their families for the last one-and-half years. They were as relentless as we were. Andrew Kokinos, who was the physical instructor in the last World Cup, was keen to make us toil. But we got often away.
“There is no escape now. Wright has made such an impact that we can’t go away without doing what he wants. I don’t know whether these three will be with us in the future, but for Indian cricket’s sake, they should.”
He is unhesitating in saying that this team is the best in the last 15 years. “Only two cricketers could have made it to this team — Kapil Dev and Mohammed Azharuddin. They would be playing for Ashish Nehra and Dinesh Mongia.
“Just give it a thought — Azhar, Yuvraj (Singh) and Mohammed (Kaif) fielding in the same team in the 30-yard circle! I have always said that if we had a Kapil Dev in our team, we would have been the champions.”
But what about Manoj Prabhakar, the man who ‘taught’ Kapil Dev how to bowl reverse swing? “With Kapil and Srinath operating with the new ball and Zaheer (Khan) as the first change, there is just no place for Manoj. We don’t want him to open the innings either,” came the reply.
The Indians are a happy lot now. But Ganguly can not take his mind off the opponents they had failed against in the tournament — Australia.
“(Adam) Gilchrist and (Mathew) Hayden are not among runs. England should have gone for the kill in their last match. I just fail to understand why Nasser (Hussain) didn’t use the experience of (Andrew) Caddick when Australia was eight down.
“(James) Anderson is a good prospect but Caddick has the experience to bowl in such situations. They needed only one wicket to have (Glenn) McGrath batting.”
So, is the skipper already thinking about a final showdown with the Aussies?
“Not now. We have three matches to be played in the Super six to qualify for the semis and we want to be the second or third team to qualify for the last four. I feel the Aussies will be the first team. If we have to play them once again, it’ll be better to play in the final.”
But he didn’t forget to add that if they qualify for the final, he would buy himself a Mercedes. “I have a passion for the best cars, I just can’t resist them.”
Ganguly was happy to hear that his father had distributed sweets to the people around his Behala residence in Kolkata after the Indians beat Pakistan in the last group match.
“That tells you that the situation is better. I can understand their mood when we play badly. Yet, we all are playing for the country and nobody is more frustrated than us when we lose a match.
“I read that the people in Pakistan had threatened to burn Shoaib’s (Akhtar) house if he plays the next match. That shouldn’t happen. Shoaib too was playing for his country and was eager to succeed. It’s different that Sachin (Tendulkar) was just unstoppable that day.”
But does he think that Shoaib chucks, to be able get such an awkward bounce? Ganguly offered many views but with a request that not a single word be printed!
“I can only tell you that when I got hit by one of his deliveries in Mohali in 1997, for the next month, I just could not sleep on a particular side,” Ganguly said.
