Ganguly walks tall

Kolkata: Winning does alter a man’s gait, and it was apparent the Kolkata Knight Riders had won against Deccan Chargers even if one just saw the confident walk of its captain Sourav Ganguly as he strode in to address the media. Here are some excerpts from his media interaction at Eden Gardens.

Excerpts:
On being very happy with the win: Yeah. We need wins, not just one but we need to go on in the tournament. We won in Mohali then disappointed [with] the way we lost in Delhi. But it was a bad toss to lose in Delhi, if you saw the game yesterday against Rajasthan the toss was very crucial for the support. Good to get a win here, we have got two more home games to go and hopefully we can get better.

On the importance of home games: Yes it is important for every team, away games are important but home games are also important for every team. You know the conditions, you know what to do, you play on this ground every day, so obviously that little bit of home advantage stays with everyone.

On the most satisfying stroke he played in his today’s innings of 88 off 54 balls: I got runs, the team won and that is most important.

On this being his most valuable T20 innings: No, Not really, actually. I have played a few good T20 knocks. I thought the one against Kings XI [Punjab] was important to get a win. [A] few knocks in the first year, few knocks last year. In T20, it is a different format. A lot of these people talk about big scores, sometimes it is not possible in this format because you are swinging all the time. In 20 overs we have got seven, eight batters to bat, you are taking chances all the time. Sometimes it is not possible to get big scores consistently in this format of the game. But I think even 30, 35, Hussey’s 31 today was an important knock for the team. These scores are also important, not just the big scores.

On the fact that whenever he is under pressure to perform, he comes back strongly: No, I have never looked at life this way, as I have always said before the day you pick the cricket bat till the day you finish you will always be under pressure to perform and it is the same with everyone. You take Sachin Tendulkar, he is also under pressure to perform every game, it is the same with everyone. Outside things have never worried me because I have always had faith in my abilities. If I wasn’t good enough I wouldn’t be here. But the pressure of performing will be on me and will be there on everyone.

On his fans demonstrating in Kolkata: See, I really didn’t know about it till five o’clock in the evening when a very dear friend of mine Anil told me. He asked me where I am, I said at the hotel; he heard that my car was… but I left for the ground and didn’t even see what was happening. But these things happen I get a lot if love and affection from these people so once in a while it’s fine.

On the importance of the toss: Toss wasn’t important in this match, but in the Feroz Shah Kotla wicket it was very important. If you have seen the game yesterday against Rajasthan, Rajasthan got only 120 and you could see the wicket deteriorating. So if you lose tosses on these deteriorating wickets, it’s difficult for a team batting second. Today was a good wicket right throughout the match and I thought we bowled exceptionally well.

On what words were exchanged between him and Andrew Symonds: No. he wasn’t, he wasn’t congratulating, neither was I. We will leave it at that.

On whether he is aware that he is the highest scorer in IPL of all time: I have got no idea, no I think Adam Gilchrist is. I am somewhere there, but I think it’s Adam Gilchrist.