Ganguly goes through the grind, shows no discomfort

Port of Spain, Mar 14 (UNI) Sourav Ganguly was the star attraction at the nets, as the Indian team went through a strenous two-and -half-hour of workout, showing no signs of dioscomfort at the University of West Indies (UWI) ground here.

The former skipper effectively answered questions about his ''niggle'' as he spent an extended time out in the middle.

The session included a wind-up spell that involved a long series of short-pitched deliveries aimed at chest and face that he either calmly ducked or pulled with nonchalant ease.

Thereafter, it was time with the ball and Ganguly went through the grind without any signs of discomfort having earlier participated in the full set of warm-ups with the rest of the boys.

Sachin Tendulkar also picked up a bat and turned his arm over.

An interesting sidelight of the session was the attention paid to the batting of the tail-enders. Starting with Zaheer Khan and Anil Kumble, all the bowlers were asked to take extended strike to a mix of spin and pace.

In fact, the same pattern was spotted at the Sri Lankan nets at the National Cricket Centre in Couva, where all the tailenders took turns with the bat.

Skipper Rahul Dravid later told media persons that lower order contributions will be important and they could be called on to make critical contributions during the course of this tournament.

''We have seen how effective this can be. Zaheer played some great knocks in South Africa, Harbhajan has played some critical innings for us down the order.

''The reason we are giving them all a good go is that it could just be possible that at some time here, they could be called on to play a critical role that could well be decisive. It's a matter of being prepared for that. I'm happy at the way they are approaching the task mentally,'' Dravid said.

Harbhajan chipped in, saying, ''We all have our roles and mine is to be more responsible with the bat as much as with the ball. I have done my best with the bat but would like to make bigger contributions this time.'' UNI