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InDepth headlines national business sports cricket regional entertainment technology world travel autos health | in-depth coverage > Cricket World Cup 2003 > British media lavishes praise on Ganguly 18.15 IST 16th Mar 2003 By IndiaExpress Bureau He was scorned as "Lord Snooty" in England not so long ago. But now the same country is lionizing him as the captain of the World Cup tournament. With India looking set to meet Australia in the final of the World Cup, the British media on Sunday praised the Indian side and its skipper Sourav Ganguly who, said The Sunday Observer, was probably the finest leader in the tournament. "For weeks the pundits have praised Ricky Ponting's growing maturity, Stephen Fleming's ingenuity. But Ganguly can lay claim to being the captain of the tournament," the paper said. "India's captain is not liked but he is just the man for the job," it said and commended Ganguly for sacrificing his role of the opener for team's sake. "Ganguly has also been prepared to sacrifice his own role in the side—rather more readily than, say Nasser Hussain, England captain. "Instead of sending angry hand signals to the press box—a la Hussain—he has surreptitiously yielded so that India can open with Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag." The paper said Ganguly was "one of the few international captains who really believes that he can beat them". "If Ganguly lifts the trophy, even Steve Waugh might be impressed," it said. The Independent also lavished praise on the three-pronged Indian pace attack saying it was mainly responsible, apart from Sachin Tendulkar, for India's fine run in the tournament. "For a country that has produced very few high-quality fast bowlers—only Kapil Dev, with 434 Test wickets, stands out—Srinath and the two left-arm quicks, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, are providing India with the best pace attack in their history," wrote Angus Fraser in the paper. "It is not just the aggression and pace with which they bowl that give their captain so many options and their opponents so much trouble, but the ability to deploy two left-armers who can swing the ball back into a right-handed batsmen at pace. There are not many bowlers of this type, but when they come along they cause batsmen endless problems. It is amazing what a slight change of angle can do to minds and technique." Fraser said after India's league match against England, some English batsmen said the Indian bowlers "hit the bat harder than Pakistan's pace man Shoaib Akhtar had a few days earlier when he became the first man officially to break the 100mph barrier". The British media also evinced keen interest in a probable India-Australia final. "Australia against India—it is the final that this accident-prone tournament desperately craves," said The Sunday Observer. "Australia remain the team to beat, but India are recognized as the only side who can do it. in-depth coverage > Cricket World Cup 2003 > |
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