Sourav Ganguly was relaxed on the eve of Mohali Test, aloof from the hype and the pressure associated with an India-Pakistan series

Nagraj Gollapudi in Mohali07-Mar-2005

Sourav Ganguly isn’t playing up the favourites tag© Getty Images
On the pressure of playing Test cricket after a long break
I don’t think that’s a problem. Its good that all the guys are in good form, having played domestic cricket. So it helps picking up an eleven that suits the conditions.On starting as favourites
Although we beat them in Pakistan 2004, that was a year back. This time around they will be a young competitive team and we’ll have to play to our potential to win the series.On whether his squad is a balanced one
It’s a very balanced side, having been together for quite some time. Almost all the cricketers in this squad are at the peak of their game, but at the same time this game is never played on paper; its how we turn into perfomances in the next three Test matches which would decide the outcome of the series.On the team for the Test
We have picked out twelve – Yuvraj Singh and Ashish Nehra were left out – and tomorrow morning we will decide the final eleven.On not making a big score for a long time
I haven’t got a hundred from the last one in Brisbane on the 2003-04 Australian tour, but I still averaged over 50. But, yes, it’s a criteria to get a Test hundred; I was close a few times – the next time when I get near to a hundred, I will try and convert it into a big score.On the hype of an Indo-Pak series
India-Pakistan series is big and that was the case in the past and that will continue to be in the future. In terms of attention, in terms of people turning out and in term of people follwing the sries, its probably bigger than the Ashes contests between Australia and England.On Test matches becoming more result-oriented
Cricket has changed over the past four years with lot of results in Test matches which has got to do a lot with one-day cricket that is played a lot. The game is being played at a faster rate in the longer version, too, which helps in the decision-making. When the captains walk into a Test they know there’s going to be a result unless you play on an an absolute flat belter. There is no point playing for a draw.On the role of Bob Woolmer, with whom Pakistan have the last four one-dayers against India
That was one-day cricket. In the one-day series in Pakistan, when Javed Miandad was the coach, it was pretty close: we were 2-1 down and came back to win the series 3-2. Test cricket will be different. We do understand that Bob is a very capable coach, but it depends on the players what they do in the middle.On strategies lined up for the oppositon
I watched them in Australia and saw a few overs of the Dharamsala game. And having played them last year we have taken our points that we will work out during the game.On his captaincy after he had said last year that it was going through a difficult phase when India were losing the one-dayers
I said that during the one-day series as we were losing quite a few one-dayers. I have been in difficult situations in the past – the 2003 World Cup, the away tour to Australia series and the 2004 Pakistan tour. Those tours were much tougher. They will help in lifting our confidence. As for my status as the captain I’ve been appointed as skipper for the series, so I will take it as it comes.