Indian batting order to be changed: Ganguly

The batting order of the Indian cricket team is in for a major reshuffle, with skipper Sourav Ganguly disclosing on Thursday that he has a "definite plan" involving "a lot of players batting at a lot of different places".

A day after being retained captain of the team, Ganguly said the objective of the plan was to try and win consistently "rather than show individual brilliance".

The stylish left-hander readily acknowledged that his team has often choked at the finishing line in one-day internationals and he is keen to sort out the problem.

"I think we have got to sit and work out the formation of the eleven; placement of people at different places."

Asked whether he would have master opening batsman Sachin Tendulkar batting down the order, he replied that he does not want to jump the gun and name anybody.

"It is basically for the team's sake. The whole world knows where our problem lies."

So why does India choke at the finishing line?

"This is one answer I myself do not know. If I had known that, probably we would not have lost so many big games. The reason perhaps lies in inexperience," he said.

Pointing to India's defeat in the recent one-day match against England, in Delhi, the captain lamented that India lost despite having a score of around 200 and needing 60-odd runs with six wickets in hand.

"Any team in the world would have just walked through with it. We played some poor shots, we hit too many balls in the air and gave wickets away," he recalled.

The greatest drawback of the team he's been leading for two years now, he says, is failure to win important games.

"I do not think we have played badly. We have played well, but lost important games; not finished off. That has totally changed the scenario of people's perception about the team doing well or doing very badly," Ganguly said, recalling the series against Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, England and the ICC Knock-out tournament in Nairobi.

As for the recent series against South Africa there, the captain conceded that they have a better team. "There is no harm in accepting it."

Ganguly explained the rationale behind his move to reshuffle the batting order, saying the intention is to distribute "the batting order properly so that under a crunch situation we have an experienced guy who can take it through".

He was unwilling to disclose specifics, saying that he would like to have a word with the selectors before finalising his "definite plan".

Asked what his own number would be in the order, the captain pointed out that he had been very successful as an opener in one-day cricket and would like to continue in that position. "But then if we start losing crunch games like this, probably a lot of people would have to bat at a lot of different places. We have to look at this because the bottomline is winning, which is everything in this game."

Ganguly is not disappointed at having been reappointed captain only for the upcoming series against Zimbabwe although he is of the view that such appointments should be for at least six months straightaway. However, he said, what the selectors had done "was fair enough" and he has no grudge.

Asked if he expected to lead India in the series against the West Indies, starting in the Caribbeans in April, and at next year's World Cup in South Africa, the captain said he hasn't thought about that.

"At present, I am concentrating on the Zimbabwe series. I will take it series by series," he said.

How much say should a captain have in team selection?

"I think there should be a definite say, because at the end of the day it is the captain who has to lead the boys on the ground. He has to have enough understanding and confidence in the cricketers."

At the same time he felt the selectors cannot be ignored. "We don't get to watch domestic cricket because half the time we are playing international cricket. They go round the country, watch young cricketers. They know who is better than who. The bottomline is that we select the team that is best for India."

Ganguly answered in the affirmative when asked if he had that kind of a say in team selection.

Asked about the frequent changes in India's opening attack, Ganguly said: "Zaheer Khan had just missed one series against England. He has bowled superbly in the Ranji Trophy and should be back. The same applies to Ashish Nehra, who had been left out because he was injured."

He was clear in his mind that India did not do as well as expected against England because of its batting, and not bowling.

Asked his views on Australia's decision to have different captains for Tests and one-dayers, Ganguly replied: "It does not solve anything. I would love to see Australia's performance in the next cricket match. I am telling you, Steve Waugh (sacked from the one-day team yesterday) will be back in the team before the next World Cup starts."

Ganguly pointed out that in all teams there are players who play only in one-dayers and only in Tests. "With the exception of Australia's Michael Bevan, all top one-day players are good Test players. These include Tendulkar, Australia's Mark Waugh, South Africa's Gary Kirsten and Pakistan's Saeed Anwar and Inzamam-ul Haq."

The most successful one-day bowlers are also the most successful Test bowlers, he pointed out. "Players like Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath; for India, Srinath; for England, Darren Gough, and for South Africa, Allan Donald are all successful Test bowlers.

Does he favour a rotational policy as followed by the Australians?

"It all depends upon the bench strength; how good your bench strength is. I think you can follow a rotational policy if your bench strength is as good as the boys who play."

Mail Cricket Editor