Ganguly: We should have won the Test series
Rain pelted the window-panes, but the gloom in Sourav Ganguly's room superseded the weather easily
Special Correspondent
25-May-2002
Rain pelted the window-panes, but the gloom in Sourav Ganguly's room superseded the weather easily. Shiv Sunder Das and Deep Dasgupta came up to the captain to wish him luck for the one-day series before they caught the flight back to India. But the topic of conversation refused to shift from the just-concluded Test series.
Everybody, including you, opined before the Test series that India should win the series...
Yes, I was really optimistic before the series, and I am still saying that we should have won the series. Actually they played very well following the Port of Spain Test. We had to lift our performance levels to beat them, which we could not.
Was the wicket in Jamaica unplayable during the final two days?
Not at all. But we could not bat well. Chasing 408 to win a Test match is not easy. I know that India have done so once, but that is the only instance. You can't win regularly chasing 400-plus scores in Test matches.
But don't you think that you, VVS Laxman and Harbhajan Singh played some rash shots?
The ball was there to be pulled. I played such shots in Antigua and got sixes both times. Laxman has scored so many runs employing the pull shot. Harbhajan could have ducked, but that happens to tail-enders.
Before the series, you were confident that you would score runs...
I did score runs - more than 300 runs at an average of more than 50. But that is not enough. I should have batted better, and definitely a century should have been there.
When will India stop losing Tests with adventurous shots?
I feel, in this series, we have not done that as frequently as you suggest. Yes, we failed to bat better when it mattered the most. That is why I am repeatedly stressing on developing our will-power and determination.
Do you feel the need for a psychologist?
I can't say so. Can anyone say that employing a psychologist would solve all problems? It comes from within, and the individual has to work on it.
What happened to Javagal Srinath? He bowled badly in the last three Tests and appeared to be tired at the end of the series? Was it because of it was a five-Test series?
I can't say. But we were indeed playing a five-Test series after a long time.
Don't you think Deep Dasgupta deserved another chance?
Yes, but he had problems behind the stumps. And once Ajay Ratra got that hundred in Antigua, we had to play him. He was neat behind the stumps too. Deep is also a good player, and he will have his chances too.
What about Wasim Jaffer?
He is a good batsman; he can bat well, especially off the back foot.
It was said before the series that the Sanfords and Collins' were bowlers of little consequence, and that Shivnarine Chanderpaul was not a batsman of calibre...
I don't know who had said that. Cricket is a game that can change with one ball. Chanderpaul is always a threat when playing against us. It happens to someone against a particular country. Sachin Tendulkar is always at his best against Australia; maybe you can say that about me against Pakistan.
But then, is the tradition of losing on foreign soil to be continued? Why can't you win a single series abroad?
See, we are trying. In the last one year or so, we have four victories abroad. Now those have to be converted into series wins. For that, we need to get 350-plus in the first innings in every Test we play; that is mandatory. At the moment, however, we are trying to concentrate more on the games at hand - the one-day series. We need to win it to boost our morale.