Don’t think about the outcome, embrace the pressure, says Michael Clarke and Sourav Ganguly
World Cup final in 2003 with eight straight wins. Michael Clarke and Sourav Ganguly talk with Boria Majumdar ahead of the mega final. Excerpts:
On favourites to win the final
Clarke: India have been the best team this World Cup by a distance, but the final is a different beast.
Everything about a big World Cup final is different. Your nine wins in the group stage will not matter. Your win against Australia will not matter.
Both teams will start fresh and it is a one-off game. That’s how a final always is. Just one game.
Hundred percent India are the favourites but you just never know in a World Cup final
Ganguly: India have played some fantastic cricket in the tournament so far and if they continue to play the same way, it is very difficult to stop them. To win games in the way they have, that shows the quality of the team. Australia, on the other hand,is a side that knows how to win.
They have the nerve to play a big final. And a final is a very different game compared to anything else. In every sense, this is the best possible World Cup final one could have hoped for
On allegations that India are taking unfair advantage by curating pitches of their choice
Clarke: It’s childish to say such things.
India have played in nine different venues, in different pitches and played some fantastic cricket. You should congratulate, clap, applaud, celebrate and complement them and not talk rubbish.
Ganguly: Pitches don’t win you games. Both teams play on the same pitch for 100 overs and in the semi-final, 730 runs (724) were scored with the fast bowlers picking majority of the wickets for India.
