I am looking forward to Australia: Ganguly

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">KOLKATA: The national cricket camp is still a month away but Sourav Ganguly is already planning for it. Times News Network cornered the India captain as he turns 31 today.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Excerpts from the exclusive interview</span>:<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Last month, you completed seven years in international cricket.How have things changed for you: from the comeback boy in 1996 to one of the elder statesman of cricket?</span><br /><br />It happened slowly, year by year. The first goal was to establish myself in the team. Then holding on to it.<br /> <br />The captaincy came in between in 2000... in Indian cricket, they start expecting success instantly and hence, the pressure kept mounting. I had one poor year in 2001 but apart from that, I have had six good years. Gradually, one gets used to it.<br /><br />Today, everybody lauds your aggressive instincts as captain. Even Steve Waugh - not known to be your best friend - has also said that you have turned the team around...<br />(Smiles) No, no... actually Steve is a good friend. I have enormous respect for him as a cricketer and I value his comments. Some of the recent criticism about him has been really harsh, but he keeps coming back.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Since the NatWest Trophy antics, you seem to have become a more relaxed captain. Does it have anything to do with your improving success rate?</span><br /><br />You can say that. It takes time to settle down as captain and in the Indian context, you hardly have any scope for that.<br /> <br />I had to build a team, often by persisting with youngsters in the face of strong but often justified criticism. But they slowly started delivering. We are a strong team now where anybody in the XI, especially seniors like Sachin and Rahul or Sehwag, Yuvraj and Kaif keep winning games for the team. <br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">It''s been kind of a roller-coaster for the Indian team, ending with the World Cup. Are you happy with the results so far?</span><br /><br />Oh yes. It''s been fantastic but we will have to be consistent. Getting to the World Cup final was extremely satisfying, especially in the way we dominated the tournament. <br /><br />It''s been the result of extremely hard work put in by myself, John (Wright), Andrew (Leipus) and Adrian (Le Roux). The performance of all the youngsters is praiseworthy... take someone like seamer Ashish Nehra for example. <br /><br />He has improved by leaps and bounds over the last seven or eight months.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">By 2007 World Cup, you, Sachin and Rahul will be in your mid-30s. Do you think your best chance to win the Cup has come and gone?</span><br /><br />Not at all. A batsman''s peak comes in between 32 and 35 years. If we stay fit and continue performing well, we can lend valuable experience to the likes of Sehwag, Kaif and Yuvraj who will also mature as players. <br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">What''s goal you have set for yourself as captain for the ensuing season?</span><br /><br />The first task at hand will be to get fit. Last year, we had trained our sights on the World Cup. Obviously, we are dejected that we didn''t win but we have at least laid the foundation for a very good team. <br /><br />The way our fast bowlers are shaping, we can now take 20 wickets in a Test match. I can now even look forward to winning a Test series abroad - something we haven''t managed for a while.<br /> <br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">How much of a ‘grudge factor'' will be at work when we take on the Kiwis in Tests here and the Aussies in the tri-series ?</span><br /><br />There are no scores to settle, really. We didn''t play well in New Zealand... we kept on losing tosses and things simply didn''t go our way. <br /><br />However, at the World Cup we proved that if the wickets are fair, we get good results. The Kiwis may be hurting after being thrown out of the tournament by us<span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">.</span> However, I am really looking forward to the tour to Australia. <br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">What is the status on Srinath''s retirement?</span><br /> <br />I haven''t spoken to him after the World Cup. It would be nice to have him around in Australia.</div> </div>