da 888casino： Sourav Ganguly says that he enjoys touring more than playing at home
Sankhya Krishnan07-Jun-2001Sourav Ganguly says that he enjoys touring more than playing at home.With so many people around and so much hype, Ganguly suggests that hefeels cramped in domestic surroundings. Indeed he never tires ofpointing out that he has a better Test average away than at home. At47.66, his away average is almost seven points higher than thecorresponding figure of 40.79 at home. Ganguly is not the only Indianto possess such a distinction. Rahul Dravid and Sadagoppan Ramesh alsoshare it and while Sachin Tendulkar does not, he still averages ahealthy 53 away. Dravid actually boasts a figure above 50 in seven ofthe nine countries he has played in (except Sri Lanka where he isclose enough and Australia where he is far enough) which is positivelybrilliant.A closer scrutiny reveals some warts in that seemingly impeccablelooking away record. The captain for instance has not approached theuniformly good record across the five continents as his second number.He has come, seen but failed to conquer in four nations: Australia,South Africa, West Indies (from where not coincidentally the best fastbowlers hail) and Zimbabwe. One of the commonly articulated grouses ofbatsmen is the lack of sufficient practice games to get acclimatisedto the conditions. A hastily arranged visit from South Africa to breaktheir isolation in 1991/92 meant that one of India’s warm-ups in thesubsequent tour of Australia was lopped off the itinerary. India wentinto the first Test with just one first class game behind them andwere ritually slaughtered.On the first tour of Zimbabwe in 1992/93, India blithely entered theTest without so much as a first class game behind them and almostfaced the mortification of a follow-on. Six years later, on theirsecond tour, they had one game which they won by an innings withouthardly breaking into a sweat. But that one innings of batting practiceclearly did not suffice for when it came to the crunch, the celebratedIndian batting folding up without so much as a whimper. With two gamesscheduled this time (in which the Indians utilised all four innings)they have nothing to complain about. Four Indian batsmen grabbed theopportunity to make centuries and yet there have been some disturbingsigns.The Indian captain’s Test place is largely hanging on reputation. Hehasn’t scored a century in his last 11 Tests. It should be a challengeGanguly should be raring to overcome by getting as much match practicein the middle before the Test. In the circumstances, his approach inthe second warm-up game was a trifle baffling. Having failed in bothinnings against Zimbabwe A in the first tour game, what did Ganguly doagainst CFX Academy? He promoted Hemang Badani who does not figure inthe Indian team’s plans for the first Test ahead of him in the battingorder and then retired after making 53 which was incidentally hisfirst 50 in his last eight first class games. Shades ofoverconfidence?The stunning turnaround midway through the series against Australiameant that Ganguly was forgiven for his poor run with the bat. Thereis a perception running in sections of the public that he sacrificedhis personal form for the sake of the team by focusing his energies onthe verbal pleasantries. It may be difficult to reproduce such aggronow when the team is installed as favourite and not as underdog.Ganguly’s place in the team is not under threat. Far from it. MarkTaylor and Nasser Hussain have survived longer periods in the battinghorrors. As long as the team wins, all other foibles will be forgiven.But to keep winning India needs the skipper to fire in his primaryrole sooner rather than later. He should realise that, as the oldcliche goes, the willow can speak the most eloquently of all.