India will stick to the same batting line-up: Ganguly

Indian captain Sourav Ganguly said in Kolkata on Saturday that the team will stick to the same batting line-up in the second Test beginning at the Eden Gardens tomorrow despite the top order failing to come good against the formidable Australians in the Mumbai Test.

"Batting is our strength and we will stick to the same batting order for the Eden Test," Ganguly told reporters before the team's practice session. "The track appears to favour the batsmen, it's flat. It looks a good one," he said. Expressing happiness over the Eden track, Ganguly denied that he had been trying to influence pitch preparations against the Aussies. "A lot of stories are coming out in the press. We play on wickets given to us. I do not give any instructions to the curators," he said.

The Indian captain said the absence of leg spinner Anil Kumble and pace spearhead Javagal Srinath had been a setback for the team which has to learn to perform without their key bowlers.

"You cannot go on depending on Anil and Srinath for years. Their absence affords a very good opportunity for the youngsters to rise to the occasion and deliver," he said.

On his personal form, Ganguly who could manage just eight runs in the two innings in Mumbai, said that failures were bound to come in a cricketer's career. "I have just failed in one Test match. When you are playing for five or six years, some failures are bound to occur. It happened in Mumbai, coincidentally we lost the match," the Indian captain said.

Ganguly, who will be leading the side for the first time in front of his home crowd, said he did not apprehend any crowd trouble during the Test. "Kolkata is the place where I have played most of my cricket. Tomorrow is the first time I will be playing here as the national captain," the local hero said. "Obviously, the crowds have not bothered me. Ups and downs will be there, but I don't think that the crowd will be a problem. I think they will back India. At the same time we have to play well," he said.

On Australian opener Michael Slater being banned from the Test, the Indian skipper said "It's unfortunate. He is a good player. I have not been informed officially, though I came to know about it through the media."