'Media Manager A Must'

Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly has advocated the need for appointing a media manager for the team, saying it will ease the pressure on the captain and the players considerably.

"Most of the teams have a media manager these days which makes the job much easier for the team. Only the teams in the sub-continent don't have one. I think it is very necessary," Ganguly said in an interview to Doordarshan telecast today.

Ganguly said the captain had to answer a lot of questions during a series and often the media misreports the statements which gives a totally different meaning.

"When statements are distorted, people who read the reports have a different idea of the situation. If we have a media manager, it will ease the pressure on the captain, coach and the manager," he said.

The Indian captain, who appeared for the first time in a joint interview with wife Dona, spoke on a wide range of subjects covering some of the controversies during the recent series against Australia and his family life.

Ganguly said the series of controversial articles and misreportings in recent times had prompted him to be more reticent and choosy while handling the media in the country.

"After some time, you come to know who is doing the right thing and who is not doing. You have to judge for yourself," he said.

Ganguly, who led india to a remarkable 2-1 series win against the formidable Australians, said the off-field strategies he had adopted against the Aussies were deliberately done to create pressure on them.

"Everything was part of a strategy. They (Australians) did eveything they wanted and often crossed the limits. I think it was not correct on their part. We just gave them back," the Indian skipper disclosed.

"When you are competing to win a crucial series, you tend to overdo it at times at the cost of sportsmanship. We thought that the only way to stop them was to do what they did. I could understand that it was affecting them," he said.

Ganguly said he had a lot of respect for the Australian captain Steve Waugh and his teammates but some of the complaints they made during the series were "school boy stuff".

On the chucking issue which has resurfaced in international cricket, the Indian captain said the issue seemed quite complicated and he often saw no perceptible change in the action of a bowler after being cleared of throwing.

"It is no doubt an issue. There is no point giving a bowler undue advantage. But at times, when a suspended bowler returns after two months, I see no change in his action."

Ganguly said once a bowler was cleared of chucking by the international cricket council's committee on illegal deliveries, he should never be called again. "If a bowler is repeatedly called, it puts a lot of pressure on him. He has to get cleared again and again and it is not good for him.

Ganguly described an article by former Australian captain Ian Chappell during the India-Australia series as "pre-planned" and said he had to issue a rejoinder as he had made certain baseless remarks about the team.

"He has the right to criticise my batting and my captaincy. Every individual may have their own opinion. But he said certain things involving the team without even verifying the facts. Everything was pre-planned," he said.

Going down memory lane, the Indian skipper recalled his school days which he thought was the most important part of life as it laid the foundation for the future.

Wife Dona said though life had changed a lot after her husband bacame the national captain, many of the things still remained the same.

Going to the movie halls has become a bigger problem for Indian cricket's star couple. "He enjoys going to the movie. We generally go for the last show. If there is a lot of crowd, Saurav joins us after the show starts when it is dark," she disclosed.

Dona also recalled her early experience in cooking and how she was apprehensive of how Ganguly would take it. "It is in England when I first started cooking for him. He was playing county cricket and craved for home cooked food. As time passed, my cooking also improved."

Describing his husband as a "self-made man", Dona said Ganguly seldom relied on his family for mental or emotional support. "He is strong. Anybody playing for the country has to be strong."

Dona revealed how she used to carry ganguly's favourite food items to the hotel during test matches in Kolkata where the captain stayed with the team in the hotel.