Dhaka, Apr 19: Will the 'great Indian huddle', which has begun to symbolise the country's cricketing resurgence, do the trick for Sourav Ganguly and his band of brave warriors in the final of the TVS Cup triangular series against South Africa here tomorrow? The football-style huddle was introduced during the recent World Cup and the Indians have continued the practice after the fall of each wicket in this tournament hoping to maintain the winning habit.
After a disastrous tour of New Zealand and a rather dismal beginning in the World Cup, the intense pressure to perform and satisfy millions of restless cricket fans back home prompted the players to hit upon some novel ideas to not only foster team spirit but also back each other in that tormenting phase of Indian cricket.
With cricket fans going on the rampage blackening houses and burning effigies, the cricketers had to get their acts together quickly and the huddle provided the perfect platform for the team to encourage each other and to plan out an on-field strategy to claim the next wicket.
Captain Ganguly himself admitted that the fans' ire at the continuing poor performance in the early stages of the World Cup propelled the team to greater heights.
"We knew we could not have returned home if we did not play well. It brought us together and we backed each other," Ganguly had said on returning home after losing in the final to Australia. Bureau Report