Dhaka, Apr 14: It has now become the habit with youngsters in the Indian cricket team to pull off stunning match-winning performances and assistant coach Ashok Malhotra gives the credit for this not only to the "determination" of the boys but also to their inspirational skipper Sourav Ganguly. Referring to the tri-series here, Malhotra said the youngsters have shown their "determination despite playing in quite difficult conditions. They have not given away anything." India won both their matches in the tournament, involving hosts Bangladesh and South Africa, in a convincing manner and it has been youngsters Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif who have walked off with the honours with their superlative performances.
Malhotra, whose role here has been restricted to a great extent with John Wright joining the team, is all praise for the captaining skills of Ganguly and credits him for the success of the youngsters.
"All the credit should go to Ganguly as he has really worked hard with the boys. He has given them the confidence and backed them to the hilt," said Malhotra. "The team has gelled well under Ganguly and it is a good sign for Indian cricket," said Malhotra.
"There are a lot of talented cricketers in the country and it is good that some of them have proved their worth. It is important to try out these youngsters as we need the back-up players," said Malhotra, who will be serving as assistant to Wright during the tri-series here.
Malhotra was in charge of India 'A' which toured West Indies to take part in the Carrib Beer Tournament and four of the players from that team -- Avishkar Salvi, Amit Mishra, Gautam Gambhir and Abhijit Kale -- were inducted in the senior team in the absence of a number of senior players. Bureau Report