India’s Ganguly Hopeful of Team’s Fightback in 2nd ODI

Javed Akhtar, Arab News

LONDON, 3 September 2004 — A resurgent England, buoyed by their big seven-wicket win in the opening match of the NatWest Challenge, take on a beaten and bruised India in the second match of the cricket series at the Brit Oval here today. India, their much-touted batting in total disarray, yet again face the must-win situation if they have to keep alive their chances in the three-match series. The Indians had a long stint at the nets yesterday under the watchful eye of coach John Wright. Skipper Saurav Ganguly was hopeful that his boys will fight back after the recent series of setbacks. But he feels that there is nothing wrong with the Indian strategy of fielding seven batsmen and making Rahul Dravid keep wickets. Unfortunately with master batsman Sachin Tendulkar ruled out with a tennis elbow, his options have been considerably narrowed. Rohan Gavaskar will again play as the seventh batsman. But Ganguly thinks it is about time that the top order batsmen, including himself, got into top form and scored some runs. Of the four seam bowlers, he has been playing three in most matches. Irfan Pathan is joined by Ashish Nehra, Ajit Agarkar or Lakshmipaty Balaji. Ganguly has favored leg-spinner Anil Kumble over Harbhajan Singh, the off-spinner but Harbhajan is likely to get a look-in today. However, India’s fortunes depend heavily on how the batsmen do and unless they strike timely form, their dismal run will continue. England captain Michael Vaughan was overjoyed at his team translating their Test match form into the one-day variety of the game. The England team also had nets at The Oval but it was closed to the media, a tactic usually adopted by top soccer nations but unheard of in cricket. Vaughan, who got out for a duck at Trent Bridge on Wednesday, said after the match: “We played good cricket and to restrict the innings to 170 out there was a fantastic effort. I think our fielding was excellent — all three disciplines were good and we must build on that. “ “It is key to take county form into the international arena and I am delighted Alex (Wharf) has come in and played well and Vikram (Solanki) has carried his county form over. Having Flintoff back bowling was also a big factor,” Vaughan added. The home team, unlikely to see any change from the side that won at Trent Bridge, go into today’s contest with their tails up. India need to put up a much better batting and bowling display if they hope to win and keep the series alive.