Azhar gets cracking

Azhar later told reporters: “I came back into the team the hard way with perseverance and positive play.”

Asked if Azhar would be in the playing 11 for the second Test, coach Kapil Dev replied, “I hope so,” but hastened to add that the eleven has not yet been picked.

Asked what went wrong in the first Test, Kapil Dev said: “Nothing went right for us at Mumbai. But we have left it (memories) behind and will go all out to win the Bangalore Test."

Kapil and captain-designate Saurav Ganguly expects India’s fortunes to change for the better in the second Test.

“The sooner, the better it is,” Kapil told reporters when asked if he expected a turnaround in India’s fortunes.

Echoing his sentiments, Ganguly, who will take over the reins from Sachin Tendulkar for the one-day series, said: “We all expect it (the string of defeats) stops here, and are praying that we start winning from here.”

Ganguly said he would accord top priority to ensure that a player picked for the National side played two series before he was dropped for poor performance.

“My first priority is that a player gets a fair chance before someone else walks in. Let him score thousand-thousand runs. But once you pick him, give him two seasons. Don’t give him a game and finish him off. It happened with me in 1992. It’s very unfair. I experienced it myself and know how it feels,” he said.

Ganguly felt that though grooming youngsters was good, but if a 37-year-old player was better than a 19-year-old one, then the former could be given the chance. He was apparently referring to former captain Mohammad Azharuddin.

Referring to India’s poor run in recent times, Ganguly said: “We have to really get motivated. We need to have a feeling that we are playing for the country. Motivation is 40 per cent of your success,” he said.

Ganguly said India needs to improve its ability to bowl in slog overs in one-day matches. “We also need to improve our fielding by 10 per cent,” he added.