Cricket: Ganguly prays for payback

By RICHARD BOOCK


You get the feeling that beyond winning the World Cup, the next best thing Sourav Ganguly would like to do is send New Zealand tumbling out of it.

It's been a couple of months since Ganguly's India side were being humiliated on lush green pitches in New Zealand, losing the tests (2-nil), the one-day internationals (5-2) - and a large amount of credibility.

But when the teams meet again at Centurion tonight in what is effectively a quarter-final for the New Zealanders, India will be holding all the aces after their impressive tournament performance so far.

Indian coach John Wright touched on his team's keenness for this match midway through the first round and Ganguly yesterday left no one in doubt about how badly his side had been wounded by the December-January tour.

"I am looking forward to the game. I have been waiting for this match for quite some time now," said Ganguly, who led India to a 183-win over Sri Lanka in their Super Six match on Monday.

"There are a few points to prove," he said, making obvious his desire to avenge what was probably India's most disappointing tour.

Ganguly was mercilessly lampooned for his appalling run of form on pitches which appeared not much different from the outfields, and World Cup star Sachin Tendulkar fared only marginally better - mainly because he was injured most of the time.

But what Ganguly possibly remembers most about the tour is the criticism aimed at him by New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, who on a couple of occasions voiced some rather pointed observations.

"If they're the best batsmen in the world then they should be able to prove it on any surface ... it's no good flashing your records all the time," Fleming said during the series.

And later: "I don't want India to go down to the World Cup with a happy feeling. If the opposition is down you must keep them there."

Fleming might well be musing about how quickly things can change, as India now loom as one of the only teams left in the competition that might be able to knock over defending champions Australia, who have yet to lose a match.

India are already assured of playing in the semifinals, but New Zealand need to win - or have Zimbabwe beat Sri Lanka - to qualify for the last four.

Fleming's task is complicated by the fact that India seem to have hit their straps at the perfect time in the tournament, and will take some subduing, whether it be with bat or ball.

Tendulkar is in some of the finest touch of his career, Ganguly has made a well-overdue century, Virender Sehwag has caused problems and the bowling attack appears to be one of the best-balanced units in the tournament.

"This is the best I've seen him play," Ganguly said of Tendulkar. "He's played so well and so consistently - that's the key, the consistency.

"There's only one word for the way he's playing now, superb."

As for the Indian's prospects, Ganguly was excited that his team had played well enough to put themselves in a position to emulate the deeds of the famous 1983 India side, who upset all predictions and won the tournament.

Having a chance to win the title was an invigorating experience, he said, one that acted as a cure-all for all manner of complaints, stiffness and injuries.

"We're in the World Cup semifinals and that takes all the tiredness out of a cricketer. It's a lifetime thing for us.

"What's in front of us is so huge".

Wright's suggestion that New Zealand's doctored pitches were likely to backfire on both teams has been proved only half-correct, considering India's campaign so far.

"Those pitches were not going to help anyone," said the former New Zealand test captain.

"Neither New Zealand nor India in terms of their preparation for the World Cup."

But India seem to have bounced back the stronger, especially in terms of their pace trio of Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra.

All have been demonstrating the form they showed glimpses of in New Zealand, to the extent that India's bowling attack is now dominated by fast bowlers for possibly the first time in their history.

World Cup schedule

Points table