Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, who arrived from the West Indies along with his teammates early this morning, said he would talk to speedster Javagal Srinath and persuade him to reconsider his decision to retire from Test cricket.

Talking to reporters, Ganguly said “Srinath is our best bowler who can guide the youngsters and I will speak to him as early as I can and ask him to reconsider his decision”.

Speaking about the team’s performance in the Caribbean where the Indians lost the Test series 1-2 but came back strongly to win the one-day series 2-1 after the first two ties were washed out, Ganguly said “it is a young side and we have some very talented youngsters. I think it will take them a little time to form a winning unit”.

“It was disappointing to lose the Test series but I think we did pretty well to win the one-dayers and I am happy with the way the young bowlers have performed on this tour,” he added.

Asked about sending in Sachin Tendulkar at number four, he said “we need an experienced batsman in the middle and Sachin, who is the best batsman in the world, would be an ideal choice as he proved in the fifth one-dayer with a fine knock”.

On how bad Tendulkar’s shoulder injury was, Ganguly said “with a few days rest it should be alright and I am sure he will be fully fit for the England tour”.

Asked whether another specialist wicketkeeper would be included along with Rahul Dravid, who kept wickets in the one-dayers in the West Indies, for the triangular series in England starting on June 27, Ganguly said “we had a specialist wicketkeeper in Ajay Ratra for the one-dayers and we continue to have one in England as well”.

“I would like Dravid to keep wickets so that we have a strong batting order. However, we will see how things works out in England and then change accordingly,” he added.

About his own batting form in the Caribbean, Ganguly said “I am satisfied with my batting though I would have been happy to get a hundred in this series”.

“As for my captaincy, I am improving every day and it should only get better from now on. My immediate goal is to build a good team for the 2003 World Cup at South Africa and I think we are moving in the right direction,” he added.

Asked how he would look at the West Indies’ tour, he said “both the Test and one-day series were very close and some of the youngsters, specially the bowlers, proved they have the talent and with little more experience they could be the match winners”.

Ganguly was all praise for the way his boys fielded in the one-dayers and said “the improvement in our ground fielding was a welcome sign but I think there still room for improvement as far as our catching was concerned”.

Ganguly’s deputy Dravid and batsman V V S Laxman took connecting flights to their respective destinations while the remaining players will leave for their homes later today.