There are two occasions on which Saurav Ganguly won’t disappoint you. One, when he is hitting left-arm spinners over long-on; the other, when he is talking to the media. Both times it’s straight from the heart.And so it was at his first press conference here, at the Hotel Pearl Continental media centre. Asked whether he agreed with Pakistan coach Javed Miandad’s assessment that this series was more about peace than winning and cricket, Ganguly stepped out of his crease. ‘‘I don’t believe in this goodwill series thing. We are here to play cricket and win matches. It is important for both teams.’’Message delivered, the Indian captain followed it up in a more diplomatic manner, referring to the ‘‘special moment’’ and how good it felt to be in Pakistan.Cue John Wright from the background, explaining how he had a real feeling of challenge and excitement. ‘‘It’s a great opportunity for us to step up on our Test performances. The pressure is on both sides but we have nothing to lose — it’s often tough playing at home. Also, the order of the tour suits us, with the one-day games first up’’, said Wright.Does that make India the favourites, as Ganguly had stated recently? The captain sought to disclaim that statement today, offering a more tepid ‘anyone can win’. ‘‘There is no favourite. Whichever team is in good form will win the series. We just have to be better than Pakistan on that day or vice versa.’’One factor will be the rustiness in either side, though Pakistan have had a longer break from the game, following their New Zealand tour, than India. Ganguly played down theories of possible rustiness, instead holding out hope that Murali Kartik and Ramesh Powar would be able to fill in the big shoes of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.Much will depend, of course, on what the team has chosen to take from its marathon Australia tour. Ganguly, ebullient as usual, preferred to dwell on the positives. ‘‘The intensity is pretty good. Remember we have just come from Australia after levelling the Test series and competed with them in the ODIs and had dropped off only in the last week.’’Wright, while saying he hoped the team would maintain its momentum of the past 18 months, echoed his captain. ‘‘We have made rapid strides as a team especially in the one-day games. It is therefore important that we maintain that. Lately our one-day form has dipped but that has been only mainly against Australia,’’ reckoned the captain and the coach.The only time Ganguly seemed to lose his composure, though momentarily, was when reminded of Sunil Gavaskar’s assertion that this Indian team were chokers. ‘‘We respect Mr Gavaskar, so I don’t want to comment on his statement.’’
