Ganguly confident of returning to form

Kolkata, January 18: Brushing aside question marks over worthiness of his place in the team, Indian captain Sourav Ganguly today said he felt refreshed after a short break from cricket and was confident of coming good with the bat in the one-day series against England starting tomorrow.

"I failed in the last two tests in Ahmedabad and Bangalore but had done well in the last one-day series in South Africa. I took a break, and hopefully it should help me," Ganguly told reporters after a practice session at the Eden Gardens here today.

The Indian captain said that he had scored more than 400 runs in the last tri-series in South Africa and there was no reason why he could not be back among the runs.

"I have been getting the runs for six years, but have struggled for one year. I hope to come out of this patch", he said.

The Indian captain said that his team was not taking England lightly and were aiming to play consistently for 100 overs to be able to win the matches.

"England is a good side. All international sides are good. We have to give our best for 100 overs", Ganguly said.

On whether England's performance in the test series will put pressure on the home team, Ganguly admitted that the team played well in the tests but one-day internationals were a different ball game.

"They played well, but ultimately we won the series. One day internationals will be a different ball game", he added.

Asked whether the services of Rahul Dravid will be missed during the series, Ganguly said "Rahul is a class and experienced player, but you can't avoid injuries. But whoever comes in his place will have to score runs. Batsmen are selected to score runs".

On whether the Indians had decided on their playing eleven for the first one-dayer, the Indian skipper said that they were waiting for the arrival of all the selectors.

Ganguly said he was satisfied with the preparations for the limited overs series since most of the players had just taken part in the just-concluded Challenger series.

Indicating that he will open the innings alongside Sachin Tendulkar, Ganguly said that the Indians had a rather inexperienced team and felt that it was a good opportunity for the youngsters to prove their worth.

"Apart from Sachin, Anil, Srinath and myself, most of the other players have not played too much at the highest level. It is a good opportunity from them", he said.

He said that the coming one-dayers will be played with the forthcoming World Cup in mind and the younger members of the team had to justify their talent to cement their places in the squad.

Asked whether the present players will form the nucleus of the 2003 World Cup team, Ganguly said "it is difficult to say. These are the talented cricketers in the country and have been selected on the basis of their performance in the domestic circuit".

On whether Sanjay Bangar could fill the slot vacated by all rounder Robin Singh, the Indian captain said "Robin had played more than 100 one-dayers while Sanjay had not yet played a single one. He has a lot of potential".

Asked whether he had seen the Eden track, Ganguly replied in the affirmative and observed that it was a 'good one-day wicket, a typical Eden track''.

Replying to a question on whether the dew will be a problem, the elegant left hander said "it is difficult to say. There might not be any dew tomorrow. But we will take into account that there will be dew when making our plans".

Indian coach John Wright said that he was optimistic of an improved performance from his wards and felt that the Challenger series provided some good match practice to the players.

He said that the team had a good mixture of youth and experience and it was a good opportunity for the younger players to cement a place in the team with some solid performances.

Wright pointed out that fielding and running between the wickets were the areas, which needed a lot of improvement. "There has been some improvement but it has not come about as quickly as I would have liked".