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Calcutta: Sourav Ganguly on Sunday has urged fans to be patient with Team India. The former India captain also said it’s unfair to blame Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the team’s recent poor showing.
“It’s easy to comment from outside. The team is going through a transitional phase… You have to give the newcomers some time to settle down. Hopefully, they will do well in couple of years’ time,” Sourav said at a function where Gulshan group was announced as sponsor of the Barisha Sporting Club.
Asked what he would have done had he been the captain of this Indian side, Sourav said: “See this sort of phase comes in every captain’s life… Whenever the team does badly, the captain has to take the blame. When I took over the reins of the Indian team, we didn’t achieve success overnight. Despite having players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, the team took time to settle down. You have to be patient… Under these circumstances, I think Dhoni has to bide his time.”
Sourav believes that the selectors will have to play a crucial role if they are to build a good teamy. “The selectors need to give directions to the side… It’s the selectors’ job to build a side keeping in mind the World Cup.
“In the next one-and-half-years, we would be also playing a lot of Tests and it will not be easy. So, the players should gear up for the challenge.” Asked whether the team will miss Sachin Tendulkar in the ODIs, Sourav said: “He was not part of the ODI side for quite a long time…. The team is used to playing without him.”
Sourav said Ashok Dinda and Shami Ahmed can become an integral part of the side for the 2015 World Cup. “Dinda and Shami can become lethal weapons for the Indian team in the 2015 World Cup.”
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