India captain Sourav Ganguly, who left for Lahore on Wednesday evening, expressed confidence that his team can still win the Three-Test series against Pakistan.
Shortly before boarding a flight from New Delhi, he said he is not too disappointed about the poor batting of his leading players in the second Test which has landed the team in a precarious position at 149 for 5 in their second knock at stumps on day 3 after conceding a 202-run first innings lead.
"Reverses happen in cricket, but let us give credit to Inzamam [ul-Haq] and Imran Farhat. They batted well and scored hundreds to help their team reach a good total. Pakistan is also a good side and you should not expect that when you are on an overseas tour the other side will lose matches without putting up resistance.
"This is expected and one should learn to take it on our stride," he said.
Ganguly, who returned to India to receive treatment for a lower back injury, said he is fully fit and rearing to go for the third and final Test at Rawalpindi next week.
Asked if Akash Chopra would be dropped, considering the fact that he did not do well in the ongoing Test, he replied that a decision in this regard would be taken only after he has a talk with coach John Wright and stand-in captain Rahul Dravid.
"You don't decide the future of a cricketer on the basis of one or two games. It is not possible for everyone to perform in every game. Yuvraj [Singh] had two good games and tomorrow he can have two bad games. So you don't judge careers on the basis of one or two matches. The team management will have to sit down and decide.
"Once I go back I will have a word with the coach and stand-in captain and discuss strategy for the third and final Test," he said.
He defended Dravid's decision to bat after winning the toss.
"There is nothing wrong with the decision. It was an absolutely right decision," he averred, giving credit to the Pakistan batsmen, particularly to the tail-enders, for gaining a huge lead and setting India a formidable challenge.
