After MS Dhoni's Muted Preeser Yesterday re: Fixing, Many wanted to know what DADA Spoke re: it in his Presser way back in 2000. Here it is.
CALCUTTA, May 24 (UNI) — Indian captain Saurav Ganguly has exuded confidence that India will put up a superlative performance in the coming Asia Cup Cricket Championship in Dhaka from May 28.
Saurav, who returned here last night after attending the selection committee meeting at Pune, said: “If all of us can play to our potential, we will return victorious from Dhaka.” Saurav joined the Pune meeting straight from England after his stint at the county cricket.
“The players chosen for the Asia Cup are the best in the country at the moment, and so the Asia Cup should not be a difficult proposition for us,” Saurav said.
Asked whether current Indian bowling strength would be enough to tackle top teams like Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the Indian skipper said “we have to do with whatever is available to us. This is the best Indian side at the moment.”
Saurav felt “the wicket at Dhaka is a batting one and our batting line-up is quite good. In the match between Asia eleven and Rest of the World eleven held in Dhaka during last April, the score was three hundred plus. If the wicket remains the same, much would depend on batting, which would decide the fate of the match in Asia Cup. And in this respect, we are not behind Pakistan or Sri Lanka,” Saurav opined.
Saurav said he did not subscribe to the view that the Indian team would be in distress if he or Sachin did not get runs. He said, “we have a very strong batting line-up with Rahul Dravid, Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja. All of them were very experienced and quite capable of tackling difficult situations.”
“I am quite hopeful that our batting will click in Dhaka,” the stylish southpaw added.
Regarding the ongoing betting and match fixing controversy, Saurav said it would not affect Indian team’s performance in the Asia Cup. Saurav said “I don’t know about other teams, but our players won’t get affected by the unsubstantiated allegations.”
“Whatever any person may say, I personally feel that the most important thing is to be honest to your ownself. If you are honest to your own conscience, no allegation would be able to touch you. In the field we should only concentrate on cricket,” he said.
Saurav admitted that there could be allegations of match fixing if a player missed a vital catch or got run out at the crucial moment and said, “we can’t help it. The only way to tackle this is by performing one’s duties and not listening to allegations.” Until the allegations are proved, one can’t come to any conclusion. We cannot call anybody guilty unless the allegations are proved,” Saurav commented.
Regarding his stint at the county matches in England, Saurav said it would help him to mature further as a batsman. “The standard of county cricket in England is better than the first class matches in India. It is indeed difficult to adjust to the extreme cold there initially. I’m enjoying it now. Moreover, the presence of former Australian Test star and manager Bobby Simpson also helping me a lot. I would be more experienced and matured at the end of the season,” Saurav felt.
Source : http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20000525/sports.html
CALCUTTA, May 24 (UNI) — Indian captain Saurav Ganguly has exuded confidence that India will put up a superlative performance in the coming Asia Cup Cricket Championship in Dhaka from May 28.
Saurav, who returned here last night after attending the selection committee meeting at Pune, said: “If all of us can play to our potential, we will return victorious from Dhaka.” Saurav joined the Pune meeting straight from England after his stint at the county cricket.
“The players chosen for the Asia Cup are the best in the country at the moment, and so the Asia Cup should not be a difficult proposition for us,” Saurav said.
Asked whether current Indian bowling strength would be enough to tackle top teams like Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the Indian skipper said “we have to do with whatever is available to us. This is the best Indian side at the moment.”
Saurav felt “the wicket at Dhaka is a batting one and our batting line-up is quite good. In the match between Asia eleven and Rest of the World eleven held in Dhaka during last April, the score was three hundred plus. If the wicket remains the same, much would depend on batting, which would decide the fate of the match in Asia Cup. And in this respect, we are not behind Pakistan or Sri Lanka,” Saurav opined.
Saurav said he did not subscribe to the view that the Indian team would be in distress if he or Sachin did not get runs. He said, “we have a very strong batting line-up with Rahul Dravid, Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja. All of them were very experienced and quite capable of tackling difficult situations.”
“I am quite hopeful that our batting will click in Dhaka,” the stylish southpaw added.
Regarding the ongoing betting and match fixing controversy, Saurav said it would not affect Indian team’s performance in the Asia Cup. Saurav said “I don’t know about other teams, but our players won’t get affected by the unsubstantiated allegations.”
“Whatever any person may say, I personally feel that the most important thing is to be honest to your ownself. If you are honest to your own conscience, no allegation would be able to touch you. In the field we should only concentrate on cricket,” he said.
Saurav admitted that there could be allegations of match fixing if a player missed a vital catch or got run out at the crucial moment and said, “we can’t help it. The only way to tackle this is by performing one’s duties and not listening to allegations.” Until the allegations are proved, one can’t come to any conclusion. We cannot call anybody guilty unless the allegations are proved,” Saurav commented.
Regarding his stint at the county matches in England, Saurav said it would help him to mature further as a batsman. “The standard of county cricket in England is better than the first class matches in India. It is indeed difficult to adjust to the extreme cold there initially. I’m enjoying it now. Moreover, the presence of former Australian Test star and manager Bobby Simpson also helping me a lot. I would be more experienced and matured at the end of the season,” Saurav felt.
Source : http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20000525/sports.html
