Star’s entry predict bright day

The Indians have lost everything on this tour and are a dejected lot but Ganguly said winning the rest of the matches would enable the team to go to South Africa in a proper frame of mind.

“There is still a lot to play for in the three one-day internationals. We have got the World Cup ahead and must get back to the winning streak which we had last year,” Ganguly said ahead of tomorrow’s day-night game.

“We had won almost everything last year before we came to New Zealand. Now we have lost both Tests and four one-dayers but its all past and we want to go to World Cup in a confident mood,” he said.

Fanning India’s optimism is the return of Tendulkar, who is likely to play his first match of the one-day series tomorrow. The news of Tendulkar, who sprained his right ankle ahead of the first one-dayer in Auckland on December 26, is a big boost to the beleaguered Indian side which is desperate to make amends for its disappointing batting performance so far on this tour.

“He is a great player and his addition will definitely strengthen the side,” Ganguly said. “But at the end of the day it depends on each individual to do his job and the rest to do theirs.”

The return of Tendulkar will see India fielding a full-strength side after a long time and both spinners Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh have been included in the 12 for tomorrow’s game.

“We are going to play to our strength. We are going to play the team which has won us games in the past,” Ganguly said. “There are going to be times when you lose and we have won more than most teams in the past 11 months. We will go with our best eleven.” The captain has also decided to come back to his regular batting slot and open the innings with Virender Sehwag. (PTI)