India still can win abroad: Ganguly

Ever an optimist, Indian captain Saurav Ganguly still firmly believes his team has the ability to win overseas and pointed to the three away...

Ever an optimist, Indian captain Saurav Ganguly still firmly believes his team has the ability to win overseas and pointed to the three away victories recorded under his captaincy to argue his case.

“It is not true that we can’t win abroad. If that was the case, we wouldn’t have won in Trinidad. We won a Test in Bulawayo (Zimbabwe) and in Kandy (Sri Lanka). “I think it has more to do up in the mind,” said Ganguly after losing the fifth Test and the series against West Indies 1-2 yesterday.

Ganguly has now captained India in 23 Tests winning 10, losing seven and drawing the other six. He admitted his side has consistently failed to improve its performance in a crunch situation. “I think what makes a good team is to give its best when it is required the most – in the last Test of the series or in a key crunch match which is going to be a decider.

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“We haven’t done well in the last one year, whether it is in Zimbabwe or Sri Lanka or in the West Indies. This is also true of our performance in the finals of one-day tournaments. That’s why I said it has to got to be more in the mind.”

“It is not that we are not tough mentally. It is just that a little bit of extra is required at the crunch time,” a pensive looking skipper said.

Ganguly said his side tried not to think about the huge target to avoid putting pressure on itself. “Well, 400 is a lot of runs to make in the fourth innings. We just walked out to bat thinking of playing a Test innings. We never thought of making 400 because it would put extra pressure on the team.”

Ganguly also refused to blame the conditions at Barbados and Jamaica for the defeats. “I don’t think the conditions in Jamaica and Barbados were the key factors. Nothing much happened in Barbados except for the first 10 overs which would happen anywhere. I thought it was a good Test wicket in Barbados.

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“The same thing here. We won the toss and we bowled and let them score too many runs on the first day on a wicket which had a bit for the seam bowlers,” Ganguly said.

Coach John Wright, however, criticised his batsmen for playing loose strokes on the fourth evening.

(PTI)