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Batting is the main concern: Ganguly
 Mumbai,
Sept 23: Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly last night blamed the poor form
of his top order batsmen for the team's dismal run in the last few
months while maintaining that Rahul Dravid was the best person to keep
wickets in one-day internationals. The stylish left-handed batsman also
said out-of-touch swashbuckler Virender Sehwag needs to change his
approach a bit in one-day cricket to strike form again."I think
Dravid is doing a splendid job (as 'keeper in ODIs) and I don't see any
reason for changing it," Ganguly told reporters after landing at
the Mumbai airport along with four other team members and manager Gautam
Dasgupta.
 The
rest of the squad flew from London to Delhi and then dispersed to their
respective destinations. "We played Dinesh Karthik in two games but
I thought Dravid did a wonderful job against Pakistan. It's not just
replacing Dravid as 'keeper'. It's a question of building a team and
having the guys do the jobs in their respective positions," Ganguly
said in defence of his strategy which has come under fire in some
quarters. "It doesn't matter whether Dravid keeps or Sehwag bats at
number six or Yuvraj (Singh) opens or I bat at number seven or Sachin (Tendulkar)
bats at four. It's a team which needs to be built up for which every
individual should be batting or doing things which are good for the
team," he said.
"It doesn't matter who keeps. The best person who
is doing the job for the team will keep," he said firmly in reply
to a query whether there could be rethink on the issue. The Indian
captain, returning home after the team's poor run in the Holland
tri-series, the NatWest Challenge series and the ICC Champions trophy in
England, also said batting had let down the team over the last few
months. "Batting was the main concern. In one-day cricket it's
important to put runs on the board which we have not managed to do over
the last three months (including Asia
Cup in Sri Lanka). The bowlers have done a pretty decent job,"
he said.
 "Too
many batsmen at the top of the order were not in good touch. I don't
think you can do well if 3 or 4 batsmen at the top don't score runs.
Everybody has to contribute," he said. In this connection the
India skipper said it was surprising to see Sehwag's poor run in a
form of the game in which he should be excelling with his type of
batting. "One-day cricket is a very good platform for someone
of Sehwag's batting style. He's no doubt a class player and has got
runs in both Tests and ODIs. There's no doubt he's got the ability.
He just needs to change his approach to one day batting a bit. He
needs to look towards spending more time at the crease," the
southpaw felt.
Asked whether he contemplated any changes in the
team for the Test series against Australia, Ganguly pointed out that
the same set of men had done wonders in the last year and hoped the
downward spiral would be arrested during the series against the
world champions. "Most of these boys have done wonderfully in
Tests last year. The same guys have won games all over the world,
took you to the World Cup final, to a series win in Pakistan and
Test win in Australia. It's a phase we are going through".
"I am pretty much sure if we do well against Australia this
(phase) would be over. But at the same time it's not going to happen
only by thinking we have to do well against Australia. We have to
get our act together and make it happen," Ganguly said.
 The
Indian captain said both Yuvraj Singh and Akash Chopra deserve a
berth in the Test 14 as both the players had done well in the past
in Tests. "Both will get to play in the four-day game between
India and the rest," the Indian captain said while welcoming
the scheduling of the tie. "We needed a four-day game before
the Aussie series to get into the right frame of mind for
Tests," he said about the match which is likely to be held in
Ahmedabad or Pune at the end of this month. Asked whether India
started favourites in the series against Australia for the Border-Gavaskar
trophy, the India captain said he did not believe in the term.
"After we did well in Australia
and Pakistan we were
dubbed as favourites in the Asia Cup, but we lost. It all depends on
how were are going to play in one month against Australia," the
Bengal stalwart said.
Asked about the finger injury which has ruled out
Aussie captain Ricky Ponting at least for the first Test at
Bangalore, Ganguly said that any team that loses a captain is at a
disadvantage. "It's always difficult when your captain is ruled
out. But they are a good side and it's going to be a good
series," he predicted. (Agencies)
Published: Thursday, September 23, 2004
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