Having lifted the Champions Trophy in England and the tri-series in the West Indies, Team India is on a high but a big Test is round the corner. Come November and the tour of South Africa will be a very different ball game, according to former captain Sourav Ganguly.

At the Kolkata launch of 'Sporting Times', an archival book compiled by Boria Majumdar from The Times of India's 175-year-old treasure trove of reports and articles, Sourav said, "I'll put it this way, I wish them well and I hope they play well," Ganguly said. "I have seen lot of good things in England, and in the West Indies, but Test cricket obviously is different. I don't want to sound negative but it's going to be hard on green, pacy wickets. So, let's hope ( Mahendra Singh) Dhoni again pulls something out of the hat.".

Ganguly pointed that Sachin Tendulkar's upcoming 200th Test was not as important as him scoring runs and getting into form. "He's got such a massive reputation as a player, the best I've seen during my career, and I have played against the likes of Brian Charles Lara. I've said so to him personally as well. Whenever he finishes, whatever time he wants to, he should finish being the player he is; not someone who has struggled. More than Tendulkar getting past 200 Test matches, I really want him to get a hundred in South Africa."

Ganguly was all praise for Dhoni, saying, "It's great to see such a fantastic leader; he just gets better and better." On comparisons between him and Dhoni as leaders, Ganguly said, "No, such comparisons don't irritate me. It's bound to happen but, then, I don't take too much interest in them because my time as a player is done. It's his time now, and he will be done in four years or so and someone else will come.

"One thing that I like is both of us come from the East, a zone which did not have much of an impact on Indian cricket earlier. For that zone to produce two outstanding captains who have won Tests, tournaments and World Cups for India is very, very special. Imagine a place like Ranchi. Ten years ago nobody in the world would have envisaged Dhoni going on to become one of India's greatest captains.

Has Ravindra Jadeja's success queered the pitch for a Yuvraj Singh comeback? "I wouldn't look very far. When India won (World Cup) in 2011 nobody expected only three players to survive from that team two years later. In Indian sport and with Indian selectors you never know," Ganguly reminded.

"I hope Jadeja keeps playing well and also hope Yuvraj comes back. He's a terrific player, was man of the tournament in the World Cup. Who would have imagined that he will not be part of the team in 2013? For that matter, who expected him to make that comeback from cancer? Who knows what's in store six months down the line?"


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Keywords:Champions Trophy, former captain ,Sourav Ganguly, Boria Majumdar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni , Sachin Tendulkar,Brian Charles Lara,Indian cricket, tournaments, World Cups , India's greatest captains, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuvraj Singh ,cricket news,sports news