We are not going to get carried away, says Ganguly
Wednesday, March 12 2003 17:56 Hrs (IST)

Johannesburg: Indian captain Saurav Ganguly on Wednesday downplayed his team's advance to the semi-finals of the World Cup, saying it did not mean the title was in the bag.

"I’m not getting carried away. None of the boys are either," Ganguly said ahead of the last Super Sixes match against New Zealand at Centurion on Friday.

"It's great to have come so far, but we've only made the semi-finals. We haven’t won the World Cup and life hasn’t changed."

India, with seven wins from its eight matches, and unbeaten reigning champions Australia is the only teams to have booked a place in the last four.

The remaining two berths will be decided after the last round of Super Sixes matches are played on Saturday. India will play its semi-final under the Kingsmead lights at Durban next Thursday, two days after the first semi-final featuring Australia at Port Elizabeth on Tuesday.

It will be India's first semi-final away from home since Kapil Dev's team won the title in England in 1983. "There's no pressure, not yet at least," said Ganguly, who was not part of the Indian team when India last played a semi-final at home in Kolkata in 1996.

That match was awarded to rivals Sri Lanka by match referee Clive Lloyd after crowd trouble broke out at the Eden Gardens when India was on the verge of defeat.

Ganguly said it was foolish to take a place in the final for granted as some critics have predicted. "Others may think like that, but we can't afford to think on those lines," the Indian captain said.

"We have to take it one match at a time. For that matter so have Australia. Even they have not qualified for the final yet." For the moment, the Indians were concentrating on their last Super Sixes match against New Zealand on Friday.

"We can't take it lightly, it's a World Cup game after all," Ganguly said. "Moreover it would be great to go into the semi-finals with eight wins in nine games."

The Indian captain, however, refused to see Friday's match as an opportunity to avenge the defeat in both the Test and One-day series on the tour of New Zealand prior to the World Cup.

"History does not interest me, that's over, it's behind us," he said. "This is the World Cup stage. It can't get bigger than this." New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, however, would not let the Indians forget that tour.

"They'll be confident but sometimes that can be a weakness. Hopefully we can open up some of the wounds we opened in New Zealand," said Fleming whose team need a win to make the semi-finals after losing to Australia at Port Elizabeth on Tuesday.

It will be India's third World Cup match at the SuperSport Park in Centurion, having lost to Australia by nine wickets before defeating arch-rivals Pakistan by six wickets.

Copyright AFP 2001

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