Ganguly: Yuvraj and Murali Kartik will play

Special Correspondent

March 16, 2002

Zimbabwe captain Stuart Carlisle regretted the lack of support from all quarters despite his team faring so well as to lead India 2-1 in the five-match series, ahead of the fourth ODI to be held at Hyderabad on Saturday.

"Whenever we do well, it's either the opposition missed Tendulkar or Anil Kumble. But we missed Andy Flower too. It's not that we win because the opposition fared badly but because we performed better than the opposition on the day and we expect to be given some credit for our performance and not just blame the other team for our victory. Just the fact we won indicates we played better," he said.

Carlisle said it was nice to be 2-1 up in the series and go into a match. "We would obviously like to win on Saturday, though, we would not talk about winning the series. But, if we win here, we win the series and we couldn't ask for anything better because India are a tough team to beat," he added.

The Zimbabwe skipper said Andy Flower looks fit but the physio will have the final word. But in the event the senior Flower were to play, "we would leave out a batsman."

Queried about their none-too-impressive series in Sri Lanka, the captain said, "We did not play well. But, when a player like Muttiah Muralitharan takes 30 wickets in the series, then you are up against one individual who can beat you. But, we have improved ever since, worked hard on our game and fitness and the results are showing."

Indian captain Saurav Ganguly, for his part, said vice-captain Rahul Dravid will keep wickets at Hyderabad. Ganguly said the top-order was tested but they failed to deliver at Kochi. "We have decided to make Dravid keep wickets in order to accommodate all-rounders who can bowl. Hence Yuvraj Singh and Murali Kartik will play the match on the morrow and Ajay Ratra will sit out," Ganguly said. Also sidelined will be Vijay Bharadwaj, who alongwith Tinu Yohannan will stay in the sidelines.

The Indian skipper was not pleased with the fact the hosts trail 1-2 in the series. "The bowling has been pretty good so far, except for the last six overs in the first match at Faridabad, which we lost. We can't afford to be lax here as this is a very important match for us and we need to win here to stay in the series. All the players need to put up a good display both here and at Guwahati to win the series," he added.

When asked about India's recent poor record after England levelled the series 3-3 and Zimbabwe beat them twice in three matches at home, Ganguly replied, "Yes, it is a worrying factor and it should be looked into. No team likes to lose that many matches. We are trying to overcome our shortcomings."

On the other hand, coach John Wright was forthright in saying that India needed to perform better than at Kochi. "We played well in Faridabad until Marillier's innings, which took the match away from us. We played badly at Kochi and we should try not to repeat it. Down 1-2 and two matches to go... it is not the right way to go into a series. However, sometimes this situation is good, since the players want to fight back," the Indian coach said.

Wright added the team was working to overcome the inconsistency factor and are eager to perform better.

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