Cricket: Ganguly's best present of all

By RICHARD BOOCK

In the unlikely event that Sourav Ganguly believes in Santa Claus, there would be no prizes for guessing what he would want in his Christmas stocking this year.

The man the English media dubbed "Lord Snooty" on account of his sometimes precious and aloof nature, makes no bones about his desperation to guide India to a rare test series win overseas - the first outside the sub-continent since way back in 1986.

It is the driving force behind him on this tour, and even the chance to become his country's most successful captain is playing second-fiddle to the task of making sure India win the series against New Zealand.

Since taking over the reins in 2000, Ganguly has so far won 13 tests and needs only one more triumph to equal the record set by Mohammad Azharuddin, who captained India 47 times between 1990 and 1990 for 14 wins, 14 losses and 19 draws.

Ganguly has already carved out an impressive record in 30 outings as skipper, not only guiding his side to a counter-attacking series win over Steve Waugh's Australians last year, but also picking up rare overseas wins in Zimbabwe, England and the West Indies.

Under his captaincy, India started making some progress in their bid to improve their performance overseas, snatching a 37-run win at Port-of-Spain and soon after crushing England by an innings and 47 runs at Leeds.

They were encouraging signs, but you get the feeling that Ganguly will never be satisfied with his contribution as captain until he manages to quieten the critics and lead India to a test series win overseas.

"We want to win a series abroad and that's the main aim, and the only goal we're focussing on at the moment," Ganguly said yesterday.

"Whether I cross the 14-mark or not does not matter to me - the winning of the overseas series is the main target and obviously if we do that, the other things will look after themselves."

There is no doubt that his team have the batting power to mix it with any other side in the world; in fact, if it was just about run-scoring India would have few peers, given the prolific form of their batsmen over the past calendar year.

It is a sobering thought that Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, and VVS Laxman are averaging 59 to 65, that Ganguly and Virender Sehwag are in the mid-40s, and that the diminutive Sanjay Bangar, the least regarded of the top-order batsmen, is churning out 34.50.

In comparison, New Zealand can point to Nathan Astle's productivity, Mark Richardson's consistency and Scott Styris' famous debut, but there is precious little else to celebrate, as Stephen Fleming, Craig McMillan and Lou Vincent loiter in the mid-20s.

The problem for India has been trying to take the 20 wickets necessary to win an overseas test, and in that regard, Ganguly wasn't about to shed any tears over the greenness of the pitch this week, reasoning that it might just be the spur his attack needed.

"It's a good thing because both teams have the chance to bowl the opposition out and that's something we've sometimes struggled with when we've been touring."