Cape Town, Feb 07: Putting behind the recent failures in New Zealand, Indian captain Sourav Ganguly is confident of his own ability and that of his team's to do well in the World Cup here, but believes the opening games against Holland and Australia will be vital. "The opening two games (against Holland and Australia) are absolutely vital. It would give us a fair idea and it could put us on a roll. I am eagerly looking forward for the tournament to unfold," Ganguly said today.
Though the first game against minnows Holland on February 12 is expected to be a cakewalk for the Indians, Ganguly would be keeping his fingers crossed when the team takes on the mighty Australians on February 15.
Ganguly would be fervently praying for his side's success in the mega event as it could be a watershed in Indian cricket in more ways than one -- if India do well, Ganguly would remain at the helm of affairs and if they don't the famous machiavellian politics of Indian cricket would once again effect a bloodless coup.
However, Ganguly who is not fatalistic by temperament, does believe whatever has to happen would happen in due course and it does not serve any purpose to keep worrying all the time.
"Destiny plays an important role in one's life. I never thought I would play for India again and I never thought I would captain India in three years time," said Ganguly. "So whatever is destined would happen in due course."
Already, the theatre of World Cup has drawn curtains on the careers of at least three illustrious Indian captains in the past -- Srinivas Venkataraghavan in 1979, Kapil Dev in 1987 and Mohammed Azharuddin in 1999.
The previous experiences suggest nothing less than a title win would help Ganguly keep at bay the hounds. Venkataraghavan was informed on the plane back home he was not the captain any more, Kapil Dev was sacked even though India had reached the semi-finals and Azharuddin was done away with after India lost in the super six stage in 1999.
Ganguly, however, said he has never fussed over captaincy adding over the years he had matured as a captain.
"I haven't fussed about captaincy during my career for personal reasons," he said.
"My only concern has been to see the team do well and bring laurels for the country."
The left-handed batsman not only finds an uneasy crown on his head but he also needs to pull his weight in the team as a batsman to keep his illustrious international career going. Bureau Report