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Ganguly satisfied with overall performance

Margoa, April 7: A highly satisfied Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly on Friday lauded his team for their overall showing against Australians despite the loss in the one-day series.

"Overall it was a great team effort, Ganguly said, summing up India's 2-1 victory in the test series and the 2-3 loss in the one-dayers.

Ganguly also lauded the performance of Sachin Tendulkar, V V S Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Harbhaj Singh who showed great spirit and merit through the entire tour.

On Friday's 4-wicket loss to Australia in the fifth one-dayer, Ganguly said India fancied its chances when Sachin Tendulkar took the crucial three wickets but the Australian batsman proved too good in the end.

Ruing the lost chances, Ganguly said, "India lost the match in the last 10 overs (of their batting) and the first 15 overs (of their bowling).

"I think we did not score enough runs in the last 10 overs and fell short by some 20 runs. We should have bowled better and restricted the Australians in their first 15 overs in which they played the cut and pull game which is their strength," Ganguly said.

"We needed to pick the wickets which we did not... When Tendulkar picked those three wickets in the middle, we fancied our chances but once the ball was changed it took the game away from us."

Referring to the hammering his bowlers took from Gilchrist, Ganguly said, "our bowlers kept feeding them with short balls ... I hope they will learn from this in future."

Ganguly said he was now looking forward to the Zimbabwe tour in June.

"We have two months lay off before the Zimbabwe tour and we are looking forward to it. It is also good to have a rest after a gruelling series against the Australians," he said.

The winning captain Steve Waugh said of the victory, "it was a very pleasing result."

"After a disappointing test series, I think this was a welcome victory for the team and I am also happy for Hayden who scored more than 1000 runs in the series.

"Even 250 would have been a tough score. It was a gutsy performance by us. The early part of our batting was crucial as it relieved the pressure from the middle order batsmen."

"This tough Indian tour was a very good education for everyone...The wickets were challenging. I hope we will come back to win the test series next time," Waugh said.

Man of the series Matthew Hayden who was included in the one-day squad on the basis of his sterling performance in tests, series, said it was an "amazing tour" for him.

ACB stress reduction in authority of third umpire

Melbourne, 6 April: The Australian Cricket Board resolved on Thursday to lobby the game's governing body to reduce the authority of the third umpire in borderline decisions.

A spate of controversial rulings on catches prompted the ACB to seek the reductions in the jurisdiction of the third - or TV -umpire.

Under existing regulations, on-field umpires refer borderline catches or runouts to the third umpire if they cannot adjudicate with 100 confidence. The third umpire reviews TV replays before making a decision.

"Following on from recent experience with the available technology that has proved inconclusive, the ACB is seeking that the ability of an umpire to refer a caught decision to the third umpire be withdrawn and that the umpires on the field be the sole arbitrators in these decisions," the ACB said in a statement.

The International Cricket Council's Cricket Committee will meet next month to consider submissions from member countries.

The ACB would also suggest the addition of one player to limited-overs internationals, allowing teams to play 12 players -although only 11 would be permitted to bat and only 11 permitted on the field at one time.

The ACB will also seek to ensure that a game abandoned due to negligence of the home board's pitch or ground preparation be awarded to the visiting team.

The suggested limited-overs changes also include a penalty of six runs per over for every over not completed by the team bowling second within the prescribed time.

Meeting to soothe India-Australia tension

Margao, April 5:  Match referee Cammie Smith has called a meeting of Indian and Australia team officials to soothe tension between the sides, the Indian team manager said on Thursday.

The Test and one-day series between the two countries have been marred by incidents of sledging and dissent towards the umpires.

"The match referee has called for a meeting of coaches, managers and captains of both teams to sort things out," India manager Chetan Chauhan said.

"Besides cricket, there are other things going on. Directly or indirectly pressures are being mounted on Indian players and a lot of gesturing is taking place which is not in the best interests of the game," Chauhan added, though he declined to mention any specific incidents.

Chauhan said India did not want to complain in writing but the grievances had been communicated to West Indian Smith.

Australian opening batsman Michael Slater received a suspended one-match ban from Smith after an argument with India batsman Rahul Dravid and the umpires during the first Test in Bombay.

Paceman Glenn McGrath and Australia's vice-captain Adam Gilchrist were fined 50 per cent of their match fees for showing dissent during the first one-day match at Bangalore.

The two captains, Sourav Ganguly and Steve Waugh, were also involved in controversy over who won the toss in the third match at Indore.

"If they do it (sledging), it is gamesmanship. If I, we do it, it is misbehaviour," Ganguly said on Thursday.

The teams play a deciding fifth one-day match in Goa on Friday. India won the Test series 2-1.

Indians hoping to shrug off their poor record at Fartorda Stadium

Margao, Apr 4: Indians are hoping to shrug off their poor record at the Fartorda Stadium here when they take on Australia in the series deciding fifth and final one-day match on Friday.

India have never won at this ground having lost to Sri Lanka in 1990 and 1997 with the third match against New Zealand in 1994 washed out due to rain.

However, the Indian teams’ coach John Wright said it was not on the minds of the team.

"It is always tough to come back against the Australians who will pounce on the slightest of opportunity they get to bounce back and win. However, the Indians are geared up and I am sure they can do well here and break the jinx," Wright said after the team arrived here today to a traditional welcome.

Sourav Ganguly had emerged as the highest scorer the last time India played at this venue and the skipper would be hoping the ground proves lucky for him once again.

Indian team Manager Chetan Chauhan said the players were bubbling with confidence despite the loss in Visakhapatnam and determined to put up a good performance.

"It has been a close series with fortunes fluctuating every match and we will go all out to win on Friday," he said.

Australian coach John Buchanan said his players were slightly tired after the long journey but confident after the good show at Visakhapatnam.

"We did pretty well in Visakhapatnam despite the absence of Mark Waugh and I am sure it will be an interesting game on Friday," the confident coach added.

Aussie media just can’t get over Ganguly’s criticism

Sydney, April 4: Australia's cricketers and sports writers continue their obsession with Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly who is now being dubbed here as "international cricket's version of a spoilt child".

The row between Ganguly and Australian captain Steve Waugh began even before the Aussies left for their current tour of India. It has shown no signs of abating as Ganguly continues to be picked on even for minor issues.

Australian cricket writers touring with the team have found fault with Ganguly's behaviour with Australian spectators in Kolkata, his "discourteous treatment" of Waugh and his perceived disregard for the game's niceties.

A lot of fuss was first made about Ganguly keeping Waugh waiting in seven matches before going out to toss, prompting the Australian captain to walk to the wicket alone at Indore, venue of the third one-day international. At Indore, Ganguly was also accused of wrongly claiming to have won the toss.

Ganguly responded to this charge stating "I merely asked whether it was heads or tails because we have used a new coin in every match of the series. It just showed how this series has gone -- one controversy after another..... I think people should be a bit more responsible and must clarify issues with those concerned".

In the fourth one-day international at Visakhapatnam on Tuesday, Ganguly went out to the pitch 15 minutes before Waugh joined him at the appointed time for the toss, Australian media reported on Wednesday, claiming that the Indian captain had been admonished by match referee Cammie Smith for being late for the earlier tosses.

However, the Aussie writers now had a new complaint -- Ganguly had breached ICC regulation that stipulates that captains must wear their match clothes at the toss. Ganguly wore his team's training shirt, presumably the reason why Waugh had yet another word with Smith, they reported on Wednesday.

"Ganguly seems to be international cricket's version of a spoilt child," wrote Mark Ray in a leading newspaper.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, in a newspaper article in India, has advised Ganguly not to bother about the Australian media "whose temerity in suggesting that he is rude should be laughed at". "What about all the verbals that the opposition bowlers have indulged in, Gavaskar asked?

In the middle of all the controversy being raked up by the Australians, it must be really pleasing for Waugh and his team to have totally unsettled Ganguly who has repeatedly failed with the bat in the three-Test series and the four one-dayers. He looks a pale shadow of the superb one-day batsman that he is.

Ganguly has to come up with a big knock in the deciding fifth one-dayer in Goa on Friday and come back with a bang.

India will bounce back: Ganguly

Vishakhapatnam, April 4: The comprehensive defeat in the fourth one-dayer against Australia here on Tuesday has not demoralised the Indians with captain Saurav Ganguly saying the team will definitely bounce back in the final match at Goa on Friday.

"Every time a team has lost in this series, they have bounced back. We also hope to bounce back in Goa," Ganguly said after India's 93-run loss which levelled the five-match series 2-2.

"This has only shown how competitive this series has been. Every team has a right to win and the side that played well today won," he said, adding his team was not unnerved by the 300-plus score put up by the Aussies.

Apparently the skipper had second thoughts as immediately after the match he said the target weighed heavily on the minds of the Indian team. "We also scored 300 twice in this series (taking into account 299 in Indore) but chasing a big total is definitely a difficult task.

"We were doing well initially but lost momentum due to the quick loss of wickets after the dismissal of Sachin," he said.

"We will have to play to a plan in the next match. It would be back to basics," he said.

The skipper, who failed with the bat yet again, said he will continue to open the innings. "I am passing through a bad phase. It is for the first time in my five-year career that my lack of form has extended this long. I am trying my best.

"I hope to strike form in every match and I am hoping for Goa as well," he said.

The cheerful Aussie skipper Steve Waugh applauded his team mate Ricky Ponting.

"It was a great innings. He showed a lot of character. He was having a rough time but we had a lot of faith in him. He delivered today," he said.

Waugh defended the rotation policy and said dropping Matthew Hayden for the third match in Indore was not a mistake. "We have fourteen good enough players to play for Australia. We do not depend on only one individual... We are looking at the long-term prospects," he said.

Hayden, who completed his maiden one-day century on Tuesday and won the man-of-the-match award, himself said the break had given him the much-needed rest.

"The rotation policy is good. I had a well-deserved rest. I was able to recover from weariness and was much more focussed today," he said.

Ponting said he had worked on his previous mistakes and it was good to score runs. "Its great to be back in form. I was taking my front foot far across in the earlier game. I rectified it and got runs today.

"Though it (the runs) has come at the fag end of this tour we still are left with a very important match and I hope to do well there," he said.

Huge target weighed team down: Ganguly

Vishakhapatnam, April 4: Skipper Saurav Ganguly said the huge target had weighed down his team psychologically as it suffered a 93-run loss to Australia in the fourth one-dayer on Tuesday after Sachin Tendulkar had given India a flying start.

"It was a bad toss to lose. We did well in the first 15 overs but the huge total was always at the back of our minds," Ganguly said referring to the required run rate of 7.68.

Ganguly lauded in-form Hayden, also declared man-of-the- match for his 111-run knock, and Ricky Ponting who finally struck form on Tuesday with a brilliant 101.

"It was a good wicket to bat on especially after the shine of the ball was gone. They (Hayden and Ponting) batted superbly," he added.

The Indian captain sounded a bit worried about the form of his bowlers but defended them, saying "in a one-day game it sometimes happens and I hope they will comeback in the decider at Goa."

On his own poor form in the entire series, Ganguly said, "I hope to strike form in every match and I am hoping for Goa as well."

Aussie captain Steve Waugh felt every run above 280 was a bonus and said it was a "good, professional performance from my team."

Waugh commended the performance of his bowlers -- Nathan Bracken, "who picked up couple of important wickets in the middle and Shane Warne, who returned to form taking three wickets which he "thoroughly deserved".

Aussies have a 'school boy attitude': Ganguly

Visakhapatnam, April 2: On the eve of the fourth One-day International to be played at Indira Priyadarsini Stadium, Ganguly said that the Aussies had a ‘‘school boy attitude.’’ He had a dismayed look at the Port Stadium, where the Indian team practiced in the morning, when asked about the present coin controversy and his verbal war with Australian skipper Steve Waugh.

‘‘This issue (controversy) puts him off. I do not know why the Australians are complaining. They are a very good team. I do not know why they drag such small issues.’’

The Indian skipper clearly clarified that he had asked the match referee (Cammie Smith) whether it was heads or tails since it was a new two-rupee coin. But it was interpreted in a different way. ‘‘I will request a simple Indian coin for tomorrow’s match,’’ said Ganguly, who added that since the coin at Indore had Ashok Chakra on one side and a number on the other side. So he was not sure and only clarified with the match referee.

In fact, Ganguly said, referring to the other controversy that he has kept skipper Waugh and match referee waiting, ‘‘I have just stopped bothering about all about these things. Ever since the start of the series, they have been complaining for something or the other.’’

The skipper concluded that, ‘‘we have won the Test series that is all and we are looking to wrap up the One-day series.’’

However, the Australian skipper thinks Ganguly tried to claim the toss even though the coin had come down heads, which was Waugh’s call. Ganguly claims he had merely asked match referee Cammie Smith what the result of the toss had been as it was a “different kind of coin”, writes the Australian media while dealing at length over the controversial issue.

The media wrote Waugh was clearly angered by what he saw as a ruse by his opponent. The Australian version is that Ganguly tried to “hijack the toss, telling Waugh and Smith that India would bat. Smith intervened, telling Ganguly that the toss had been won by Waugh, who elected to bowl.

Aussies feel that animosity between Waugh & Ganguly has been inflated

Visakhapatnam, April 2: The Australian team management today played down the reported unpleasantness between captains Saurav Ganguly and Steve Waugh saying the incidents had been exaggerated by the media.

"Everything is in the papers. Something’s were blown up. We have two captains who are very keen to win the series. Actually there are not too many problems," team manager Steve Bernard said after net practice of Australian team.

Ganguly has been criticized for repeatedly keeping his Australian counterpart waiting for the toss in this series. In the last match at Indore, he was accused of trying to 'take-over’ the toss when Waugh had called the coin correctly, a charge that Ganguly has denied.

Bernard refused to comment on the issue. "Now it is past. The next toss is tomorrow," he said.

Waugh defends rotation system despite criticism

Vishakapatnam, April 2:  Australia is unlikely to change its policy of rotating players in and out of the one-day team despite their poor performance against India in the 3^rd ODI at Indore.

Captain Steve Waugh is aware the new selection method has come up for some criticism but indicated Australia would adhere to it for the fourth one-dayer here tomorrow and over the next two years until the World Cup.

Waugh believes the loss on Saturday at Indore was not due to the fact in-form Matthew Hayden had been rotated out of the side for a well-earned rest.

"With change there's always going to be people who say it's right or wrong, but it's up to us to back ourselves," Waugh said.

"It's a different system and it'll take a little bit of getting used to. There's always resistance to change and as soon as you lose, people will ask, "what are you doing"?

"But you've got to look at the bigger picture not at just what happened in the last game - we're looking further down the track."

"With the rotation system you'll see benefits in two years time - not next week, or tomorrow."

In essence, Australia hadn't made too many unforced changes for the third game. Mark Waugh was forced out with a broken finger, while Glenn McGrath, after being told he was having a rest, came back into the side for an ill Nathan Bracken.

The side was not too different from that which won 10 one-dayers in a row at home over the summer.

Waugh said bad batting rather than bad selections was the problem.

"We lost five wickets in six overs - I think that's probably the best way to explain it - our batting wasn't good enough under pressure and it's something we'll have to rectify very quickly."

Only four one-dayers have been played at this humid coastal town with Australia beating Kenya here in the 1996 World Cup by 97 runs after making 7-304.

Ganguly's attitude leave Waugh fuming

Vishakapatnam, April 2:  The growing animosity between rival captains Steve Waugh of Australia and Sourav Ganguly of India threatened to boil over on Monday following a disputed toss.

Waugh was outraged that Ganguly wrongly tried to claim the toss during Saturday's third one-day international at Indore, which India won to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

Ganguly bent down when the coin hit the ground and, believing he had won the toss, walked up first for the post-toss interview with a television commentator.

Match referee Cammie Smith intervened and asked Ganguly to step back since the coin had fallen in favour of the Australian captain.

Waugh, already fuming over Ganguly's habit of emerging late from the dressing room for the toss, stopped short of calling his Indian counterpart a cheat.

"There was the incident at the toss which Cammie Smith knows about," Waugh said. "I am not going into the details. Cammie Smith knows what happened."

Smith, however, declined to comment on the pretext that International Cricket Council rules prohibit a match referee from talking to the media.

Ganguly defended himself, saying he was only seeking a clarification about the toss from Smith.

"What happened is that we have used a different coin for every match and I could not figure out whether it was heads or tails," Ganguly said.

"I just asked Cammie Smith whether it was heads or tails. That's all.

"I could not be bothered about what Waugh says. I am within my rights to seek a clarification from the match referee.

"If all this talk is meant to distract me, I won't be distracted. Cricket is all about coming off better on the field. We're ahead in the series and intend staying there."

The Indian captain also defended Waugh's charge at delaying the toss, but promised to make amends in the last two matches.

"There's so much to do in the mornings, knocking up, talking to the selectors that I may have been late by a few minutes," Ganguly said.

"But I will make sure it does not happen next time."

Ganguly and Waugh will meet again twice for the toss when the fourth international is played here on Tuesday and the fifth at Goa on Friday.

This is the worst patch in my career: Ganguly

Kolkata, March 31: The beleaguered Indian skipper told a Bengali newspaper that his lack of concentration was responsible for his pathetic performance in the home series against Australia.

Ganguly's highest score in the ongoing series is 48, which was during the second Test at his home ground, Kolkata. In all, he scored 22 and 4 at Chennai, 23 and 48 at Kolkata, 8 and 1 at Mumbai. In the one-dayers, he has scored six, five and then a duck in the third match at Indore, unnecessarily stepping out and heaving a catch to cover.

Ganguly, who admitted that he dislikes batting in the nets, told the newspaper that he is working on his batting at the nets.

Sachin Tendulkar completes the 10,000 run pinnacle

Indore, March 31: Sachin Tendulkar completed his 10,000 runs in one day cricket off the last ball of the 18th over, in his 266th match, with 50 fifties and 27 centuries. Tendulkar , thus, became the first in history to reach that milestone, and interestingly, in the list of top ten run-scorers, he also has the highest average, of 42+ at this point in time besides a strike rate of 80+.  

* Made 139 in his 266th Match against Australia

Australian media says Ganguly escaped punishment

Sydney, March 30: The Australian media is irked that Indian captain Sourav Ganguly escaped punishment after he asked the umpires to let the third umpire decide on Darren Lehmann's run out in the second one-day international in Pune.

Reports here said the Indian captain appears to have escaped punishment despite his "two obvious breaches" of ICC regulations during the Pune match.

Especially after the Australian vice-captain Adam Gilchrist and fast bowler Glenn McGrath were fined for dissent by ICC match referee Cammie Smith for dissent in the Bangalore one-dayer; it has added to the media’s call.

Ganguly contravened ICC rules when he asked the umpires to use the video replay to check which batsman was run out after a mix-up between Mark Waugh and Darren Lehmann. No player is allowed to request a video replay under any circumstances.

The second and more serious offence was committed by the Indian captain when he stood across the pitch from Waugh and the two umpires and gestured angrily and repeatedly that Waugh should have been given out, as he had been closer than Lehmann to the end where the stumps were broken.

Ganguly's finger pointing was then adopted by several of his teammates in a lengthy display of dissent at an umpiring decision, reports said.

Mark Ray writing in The Herald insisted that Ganguly's was a far more orchestrated display of attempted interference and dissent compared to the sins of the two Australians.

The reports said, match referee Cammie Smith took no action after play and had not called for a hearing on the issue till Thursday morning.

Commentators said Smith's decisions in this series have been inconsistent. He merely warned Michael Slater for his field dispute with the umpires and batsman Rahul Dravid on the third day of the first Test, but later issued him a suspended one match ban for commenting on the incident in an interview with a Sydney radio station.

However, reports said a jubilant Australian team after winning the Pune one-day match is all set for the Indore one-dayer on Saturday with its confidence restored.