MOHALI, 16 October 2003 — India will be without their injured captain Saurav Ganguly for the second and final Test against New Zealand starting today.
Rahul Dravid, Ganguly’s deputy, will lead the team in the deciding match of what has been dubbed as a revenge series for the hosts after their 2-0 trashing in New Zealand last year.
Ganguly overcame painful boils in the groin region to hit an unbeaten 100 in the drawn first Test in Ahmedabad last week but has been forced to pull out of the decider after undergoing minor surgery on Tuesday. “I am in lot of pain and I have no choice but to withdraw,” Ganguly told Reuters yesterday. His deputy Rahul Dravid will lead the team in his absence.
New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming had a small injury scare himself yesterday when he was taken for an MRI scan for dizziness after being struck on the head during practice.
“It was just one of the young fast bowlers trying to prove a point at the nets,” Fleming said. “But I’m fine.”
Dravid said India would give of their best despite the Ganguly setback.
“We go into every Test believing we can win it,” Dravid told reporters. “We are going to play hard and play good cricket. If we can implement our plans, we will be in a good position to win.”
Dravid, who has led India in four One-Day Internationals, said he would not take the Test captaincy lightly.
“I’ve not really had time for it to sink in,” he said.
“But I’m quite excited and looking forward to the game. When you grow up trying to be a cricketer, you hope that one day you’ll get a chance to lead your country’s Test team.” The 30-year-old Dravid, in the best form of his life, struck a career-best 222 in the first Test last week.
Ganguly’s place in the team is likely to be taken by left-hander Yuvraj Singh, a one-day specialist with several match-winning knocks under his belt but yet to play a Test. “We have a very balanced team with two world class spinners in Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh,” Dravid said. “Zaheer Khan is bowling very well and Lakshmipathy Balaji gives his 100 percent. Yuvraj could play and Ajit Agarkar has a good chance.”
Fleming said his side were not thinking about Ganguly’s absence.
“It’s not something we are concerned about,” he said. “It doesn’t really affect our preparations or our approach. We’ll see how to tackle whoever comes in for Saurav.”
Fleming said the Kiwis were toying with the idea of replacing off-spinner Paul Wiseman with paceman Ian Butler.
Teams (from): India - Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag, Aakash Chopra, Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Parthiv Patel (wk), Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Ajit Agarkar.
New Zealand - Stephen Fleming (captain), Mark Richardson, Lou Vincent, Nathan Astle, Scott Styris, Craig McMillan, Robbie Hart (wk), Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori, Paul Wiseman, Daryl Tuffey, Ian Butler.
