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Ganguly Hails Australia

V Reddy

International Debutant
This is a report on BBC Sport


Ganguly: India well beaten

India captain Sourav Ganguly hailed Australia as "real champions" after his side were thrashed by 125-runs in the final of the World Cup.
India were set a mammoth total of 360 to win after Australia's top order made a mockery of their bowling attack.

In reply, India could only manage 234, as Australia rounded off their impressive campaign with another masterful display.



It was just one of those days

India's Sachin Tendulkar
Match report

"Yes, its a bit disappointing," said India captain Ganguly.

"Credit to them, they played very well. It was not an easy wicket to bat on early on - but they played like real champions."

India's bowlers who had impressed leading up to the final, experienced a nightmare day.

Veteran Javagal Srinath, who is India leading wicket taker in World Cups, proved to be the most expensive of the four specialists , going for 87 runs from his 10 overs.

Captain Ganguly, however refused to dwell on their poor performances.

"It was one those bad days for them. I think they bowled a bit too short," added Ganguly.

"But all credit to them. They bowled splendidly well throughout the tournament.

"Thanks to them and my other team-mates for their efforts in getting to the final. Obviously we didn't win but I'm very proud of them."

Photos from Johannesburg


Ganguly also applauded the passionate India support.

"I thank them for turning up in such huge numbers.

"We couldn't bring the Cup home, but I think the way we played throughout the series and the fact we lost to the better team means that we can go home with out heads held up high," he said.

Tendulkar, who picked up the man-of-the-tournament award, agreed with his captain sentiments by congratulating India's bowlers on their efforts in getting India to the final.

"It was just one of those days," said Tendulkar, who was the highest run-scorer in the World Cup with 673, but fell for just four in the final.

"We didn't start well. It was a big moment for all of us. We tried hard but it didn't happen.

"The wicket helped a bit, but they found it tough to put the ball in the right areas.

"They have bowled really well throughout the tournament - but this was just one of those off-days."
 

Rik

Cricketer Of The Year
Well when your beaten that soundly there's not a lot else you can say...
 

krkode

State Captain
There's a lot you needn't say too. Atleast he said it. :P

I hail Ganguly as captain of the World cup :wow:
 

Rik

Cricketer Of The Year
krkode said:
There's a lot you needn't say too. Atleast he said it. :P

I hail Ganguly as captain of the World cup :wow:
Why? As captain he's not done much and he inserted Australia and lost the game very very badly...Ponting played one of the best innings ever played in a WC, let alone a WC final...that's the stuff that makes captain of the World Cup...
 

krkode

State Captain
My judgement came off the fact that he came through with so much criticism, kept his cool in 4 out of 11 matches and played quite beautifully. He played a captain's innings, in a win that really wasn't necessary from a tournament's point of view, but from a psychological point of view, it was a blessing. Plus, he "lead" us somewhere we haven't been in 20 years (using that analogy, perhaps Tikolo deserves mention). Maybe my view is biased.

[begin my own opinion] After the start Australia got, if Ponting didn't deliver, somebody else would have, and India would still have been beaten. But that's only an if. [/end my own opinion]

But Ponting too silenced many of his critics by leading his team to an almost flawless world cup victory. Many (Including myself) thought the absence of Steve Waugh would show sometime, and he silenced us. I stand corrected. :)
 

Rik

Cricketer Of The Year
krkode said:
My judgement came off the fact that he came through with so much criticism, kept his cool in 4 out of 11 matches and played quite beautifully. He played a captain's innings, in a win that really wasn't necessary from a tournament's point of view, but from a psychological point of view, it was a blessing. Plus, he "lead" us somewhere we haven't been in 20 years. Maybe my view is biased.

[begin my own opinion] After the start Australia got, if Ponting didn't deliver, somebody else would have, and India would still have been beaten. But that's only an if. [/end my own opinion]

But Ponting too silenced many of his critics by leading his team to an almost flawless world cup victory. Many (Including myself) thought the absence of Steve Waugh would show sometime, and he silenced us. I stand corrected. :)
Well, if you look at it another way Ganguly only scored 100s against teams with Weak bowling attacks and whenever he came across a Test Nation he got out cheaply, I'd hardly call that playing beutifully. Also only one time did Ganguly save his side, every time India came against against a Test Nation they had to make up for Ganguly failing with the bat and only the form of the 3 pace bowlers saved his blushes, and when they failed...look what happened.
 

krkode

State Captain
True. Obviously he hasn't been as impressive a captain on field, but there's more to a captain than his performance on the field.:P
 
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Rik

Cricketer Of The Year
krkode said:
True. Obviously he hasn't been as impressive a captain on field, but there's more to a captain than his performance on the field.:P
And what else did he do off the field? That makes him so special? ;)
 

krkode

State Captain
Rik said:
And what else did he do off the field? That makes him so special? ;)
He captained the side that was quite literally at a massive low to the world cup final. The Indian team isn't like the aussies. [begin opinion] I'm pretty sure most anybody could lead an uber-talented team like the Aussies to a world cup final. I don't think the same applies for India [/end opinion]. He started this while people were breaking his car windows back home. His quote: "I have no idea what happened or what to do" after the aussie game highly disapponted me, and I wouldn't dream of giving Ganguly this distinction then. But then his saying: "If we can't get support from home, we'll get it from each other" (?) and then leading an unprecedented victory run simply blew me away. Whether he brought home the big C or not, he got us within a step. And it's been quite a while.
 

aussie_beater

State Vice-Captain
Rik said:
Why? As captain he's not done much and he inserted Australia and lost the game very very badly...
Actually as captain he has done quite a bit by taking the right decisions at most of the times....you can argue he hasn't done enough as a player, but I think as captain he has given a good account of himself.

The decision to put Australia in, was correct at the time of the toss for a captain who has seen his seam attack doing wonders in helpful conditions in the tournament.And no one can deny the fact that the conditions at the start of the match at Wanderers was quite conducive to seam bowling.Now if the bowlers don't live up to the expectations then there is very little a captain can do.
 
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luckyeddie

Cricket Web Staff Member
I wouldn't underestimate the role which Ganguly has played as captain of the Indian team in WC 2003.

Sure, it helps when someone can captain from the front, putting in a performance such as the one by Ricky Ponting yesterday, but in the group game against Kenya he did precisely that. Remember, Tendulkar contributed 5, Sehwag 3, Kaif 5 and Dravid 32. OK, 'only' Kenya, but defeat was still staring India in the face at the time.

He did finish the tournament as the second-highest run maker, and I think for the most part his captaincy was imaginative and assured.

As far as inserting the Australians in the final was concerned, I hardly think that a mistake - certainly not one to rival Nasser's decision prior to the first test match against the Aussies. I think India's best chance was chasing - and the New Wanderers ground does give a little help to seam early on.
 

Top_Cat

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Exactly. Just like a captain can't set fields for bad bowling, neither can he do much about sending his bowlers in on a seamer and watching as they bowl like shizenhousen.
 

Tim

Cricketer Of The Year
Ganguly was a pretty good captain for me, but I think he let his side down badly in the field with some poor fielding.
He may have finished 2nd highest run scorer, but some of his batting against the better teams left a lot to be desired.
 

Anil

Hall of Fame Member
Top_Cat said:
Exactly. Just like a captain can't set fields for bad bowling, neither can he do much about sending his bowlers in on a seamer and watching as they bowl like shizenhousen.
Who is shizenhousen?
 

Anil

Hall of Fame Member
Tim said:
Shizenhousen is not a person, its german for "sh*t"
Ugghhh! Although that is a fairly accurate description of India's bowling efforts....Thanks for the explanation, Tim.
 

warrioryohannan

U19 Cricketer
krkode said:
There's a lot you needn't say too. Atleast he said it. :P

I hail Ganguly as captain of the World cup :wow:
Ganguly did well in the WC as a skipper, but i can't see how you can hail him as the captain of the WC, for me it got to be R Ponting.

As for the toss decision, too much has been said about it already, its still not clear as to why Ganguly fielded first? Did he wanted his bowlers to bowl out Aus cheaply on the lively wkt? or was he trying to protect his batsmen from McGrath and Lee??

I think Indian bowling was criminal, on such a wkt Aus bowlers would have got India out for a score of 200 had India batted first!
 

krkode

State Captain
The Indian bowling was doing so well throughout the tournament that Ganguly was hoping they would do it again, and probably wanted to try something different to avoid a match similar to the two teams' first meeting. It wasn't his decision that caused the match to be lost - it was the bowlers' inept bowling in that final match. Even an Aussie score of 250-300 would have been easier to chase than it would be to defend an Indian score of less than 200.

I wouldn't pick Ponting as my captain of the world cup, as I sincerely believe, and I always have, since the days of Steve Waugh, that the aussies have such a good team, that almost anybody could lead them to a world cup victory. It's more the players than the leadership - that's always been my impression.
I thought Ganguly's leadership had something to do with India's excellence this world cup. He might not have lead by example all the time, but he sure as hell did something...
 

Eclipse

International Debutant
No Ponting was by far the best captain of the tournement the way he handeled the whole Zimbabwe situation was just fantstic he also conducts himself very well off the feild and on the feild witch cant be said of Ganguly.
 

Rik

Cricketer Of The Year
Eclipse said:
No Ponting was by far the best captain of the tournement the way he handeled the whole Zimbabwe situation was just fantstic he also conducts himself very well off the feild and on the feild witch cant be said of Ganguly.
Has anyone spared a thought for Steve Tikolo?
 

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