We aren't pushovers, says Ganguly

johannesburg: indian skipper sourav ganguly predicted on tuesday that the upcoming tour of south africa could be much closer than the last time his team played here four years ago, when they were heavily defeated. the indian team reached johannesburg on monday, 10 days before the start of a two-month tour which will include a three-match test series and a triangular one-day series with the host country and kenya.ganguly said despite the ruling-out of top players like frontline batsman venkatsai laxman, left-arm seamers zaheer khan and ashish nehra and reserve batsman hemang badani, he believed his team was well prepared. "it's a mixture of youngsters and experienced players. some of these guys are young but they are pretty good. it's going to be good cricket," he said in an interview. earlier, he told reporters at a press conference that the return of batting maestro sachin tendulkar will give a major boost to his team. "we have a very good squad and the return of sachin tendulkar will be a major boost.'' in addition to the return of tendulkar, who missed the sri lankan series with an injured toe, the team is also strengthened by leggie anil kumble also coming back from injury and pacer javagal srinath. ganguly said his team will give a good account of themselves during the tour. the skipper said he was under no pressure to perform during india's recent tour of sri lanka. "i have been under no pressure. i don't know where the media gets its information from". ganguly said he believed india's chances would also be improved by their early arrival in south africa. "it's good to get used to the conditions. it takes any country who is touring to get used to it (conditions), like if australia goes to india, or south africa goes to india. each and every player needs about two weeks to get used to conditions," he said. he said the team would not be haunted by the spectcre of two past test series which india had both lost. "that's all in the past, let's not talk about it," ganguly said in reference to the the team's past struggles on the fast and bouncy south african tracks. under mohammad azharuddin in 1992-93 the team drew three matches and lost one, while sachin tendulkar couldn't prevent his men from losing two tests and drawing one in 1996-97. the indian team will be based in the city for the next week, getting acclimatised to the conditions before the first match against the oppenheimer xi later this week. india's sa tour live on star and espn after an overdose of footage of terrorist attacks on us, cricket lovers can now get ready to watch the return of sachin tendulkar and anil kumble in south africa on star sports and espn. first up is the triangular series between india, south africa and kenya on star sports. the live telecast of the day and night opener between india and south africa will start at 5pm (ist) on october 5. the second session will begin at 9.30pm and will go on till the end of the match. india's other matches in the tournament are against south africa (oct. 10), kenya (oct. 12), kenya (oct. 17), south africa (oct. 19), kenya (oct. 24). the live pictures of the final will be beamed from 5pm on october 26. the three-test series against south africa in bloemfontain (nov. 3-7), port elizabeth (nov. 16-20) and centurion park (nov. 23-27) will come live on espn. schedule (star sports): oct. 5: india vs south africa (d/n), johannesburg, 1700hrs (ist); oct. 7: south africa vs kenya, benoni, 1300hrs; oct. 10: india vs south africa (d/n), centurion park, 1700hrs; oct. 12: india vs kenya (d/n), bloemfontein, 1700hrs; oct. 14: kenya vs south africa, kimberley, 1330hrs; oct. 17: india vs kenya (d/n), port elizabeth, 1700hrs; oct. 19: india vs south africa (d/n), east london, 1700hrs; oct. 22: kenya vs south africa (d/n), cape town, 1730hrs; oct. 24: india vs kenya (d/n), paarl, 1700hrs; oct. 26: final (d/n).