Read this Interview.He had a go at Sidhu
. And also Rik ur most hated player is also backing ur that Vaughan will be one of the best.
Some commentators are immature: Ganguly
Tapan Joshi in Durban
February 26, 2003
Sourav Ganguly
Sourav Ganguly, the Indian captain, in an exclusive conversation with Tapan Joshi said if a road-side paan wallah abuses the team or his captaincy, he won't bother to pay any attention but when those who have played the game at a highest level attack the team mercilessly, he feels "very, very sad."
In this interview, Ganguly was reacting to some of the downright cheap comments made by some well-known commentators on air. A former India opening batsman, known more for his cliches than the amount of runs he scored, said, "Rahul Dravid has an allergy of leather. He just can't catch while keeping wickets." Ganguly was not amused.
The Indian skipper also talks about his rapid rise in international cricket and lists the five most difficult bowlers he has faced in his career and also his five most admired batsmen.
Q: Sourav, how do you handle criticism?
A: What kind of criticism are we talking about here! Are we talking about constructive criticism, or are we talking about downright insults and slander. If it is the former, I will gladly take it and so will my team mates, but the insults and sarcastic comments... they are too much to digest.
Q: In India, every one has an opinion. Even paan wallahs comment on how you shoud bat...
A: I can tell you, if a paan wallah makes absurd comments, I won't even look at him. But all this is coming from those who have played the game at the highest level and are now sitting in the commentators' boxes. The way they have gone about blasting this team smacks of immaturity.
Q: So, you do get hurt...
A: Of course we all do. Aren't we supposed to be human beings as well!
Q: Talking about you personally, yours has been a rapid rise in cricket after 1996. What are the factors that contributed to that?
A: More than any thing else, I would say I am mentally very tough. I can get knocked down, but I will get up and fight again. And if you are not mentally tough, don't play cricket, especially in India. We are just witnessing what is happening. You have to be very, very tough mentally to survive. I think I am tough.
Q: Can you list for our readers the five toughest bowlers you have faced and the five best batsmen in international cricket at the moment?
A: Oh, difficult one, but let me try. We'll start with the bowlers.
Wasim Akram: The greatest left-arm swing bowler of all time, perhaps. Can make life very miserable for a batsman if he is in his zone.
Glenn McGrath: His consistency is amazing. Very difficult to hit him.
Shane Warne: Champion spinner, a great bowler. Has a very big heart and that's his biggest plus.
Zaheer Khan: My India team mate has improved by leaps and bounds. He has a deadly yorker and with his new found consistency, he can be more than handy.
Shoaib Akhtar: The Pakistani's pace can run through many a batting line-up. He can knock stumps back with sheer speed.
And now the batsmen.
Sachin Tendulkar: My team mate will be in the list of everyone. Do I need to say anything about him!
Brian Lara: The left-hander is a destructive bat and on his day, he doesn't need anyone to win the match for his team. He will do it alone.
Steve Waugh: Much was made out of the so-called rivalry between me and Steve but I respect him enormously. One of the all-time greats.
Michael Vaughan: He never ceases to impress me. The way he is batting, he will become the number one batsman in the world very soon.
Matthew Hayden: Amazingly consistent. Powerful hitter of the ball, loves to dominate and goes for big hundreds.