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 Ahmedabad,
Oct 7: On the eve of what is being billed as a "revenge"
Test series against New Zealand, Indian captain Sourav Ganguly
sought to put the visitors on the backfoot, saying his young team
had the potential to beat the opposition comprehensively. Ganguly
said his team bore no grudge against the Kiwis for the embarrassing
defeats on seamer-friendly tracks in New Zealand last year since it
had already extracted revenge by beating them in the World Cup.
"We did not
win the series in New Zealand when we toured there late last year.
We managed to beat them in the World Cup soon after. So it is now
even," Ganguly told reporters at the Sardar Patel stadium, the
venue of the first Test. "Now the bottom line is to win this
series quite comfortably and we have the potential to beat
them," he said. Commenting on the Motera track, which is likely
to assist batsmen in the first two days before slowing down
gradually, Ganguly said he expected his side to make the most of the
pitch.
"It looks like
a very good Test match wicket. There is no reason why it should turn
out to be otherwise," he said. "If you are good, you can
play on any wicket," the skipper said. India have already
announced their players for the match which will see the homeside
fielding two debutants -- opener Akash Chopra and paceman Laxmipathi
Balaji. Ganguly said in the absence of all-rounder Sanjay Bangar, it
would be up to the part-timers to fill in the fifth bowler's slot.
 "Unfortunately,
we don't have Sanjay Bangar in the team for whatever reasons. So I
along with Sachin (Tendulkar) and (Virender) Sehwag have to double
up as the fifth bowler," Ganguly said. Bangar had also opened
the Indian batting in the last seven Test matches. Zaheer Khan and
Balaji will open the bowling while the team will have two spinners
in Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. Ganguly also had a word of
encouragement for Bangar when he said "he has done well for
himself and he should consider himself unlucky. But I am sure he
will work hard in future and make a comeback."
For New Zealand
captain Stephen Fleming, the last home series win over India does
not matter much since his side has come on an altogether different
mission -- to register their first ever series win in India.
"It (last series win) does not play in our mind. We will try to
win the series here," Fleming said. The astute captain is also
unperturbed by the pitch which could pose a few problems to his team
during the next five days. "It looks a good wicket and I am
sure we will put up a very good show. I would like to be the top
run-getter but we have talented players like Mark Richardson and
Nathan Astle. They will grow in confidence and come good with the
bat as the series progresses," he said. (Agencies)
Published: Tuesday,
October 07, 2003
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