Mankad admires Ganguly's flexibility as captain

It's always been said that cricketers from Mumbai are not spontaneous in their praise for their counterparts in the East Zone. Ashok Mankad and Vinod Kambli are probably the exceptions. Both are presently in Calcutta as important members of the Mumbai Ranji Trophy team playing their last Super League encounter against Bengal. And both feel that Sourav Ganguly has brought back the lost glory of the Indian team.

Mankad, who is the manager of the Mumbai team and is recogized as one of the sharpest cricketing brains in the country today praised the way in which Ganguly has been leading the Indian side. ``Winning and losing are different matters altogether. What has impressed me is Ganguly?s positive attitude. He has simply changed the outlook of the Indian team. Suddenly they look a better side,'' said Mankad. ``The faith in their ability has been restored and Ganguly has to be given credit for it.''

Mankad has also liked Ganguly?s flexibility as a captain. He said, ``Previously, we had captains who worked according to a set pattern. Ganguly on the other hand has the ability to change plans according to the situation. One has to surprise the opposition and the present Indian skipper has shown that he has the capacity to do that. The decision to use Rahul Dravid was simply superb,'' said the former Indian opener.

There was a time when Ganguly was considered to be a competitor to Vinod Kambli. Today, he is the first to admit that Ganguly has left him far behind. ``He has been superb for the last three years. In fact, today, I cannot even call myself as his competitor.''

Kambli is the first to admit that Ganguly has availed of the second opportunity that he received in 1996. ``Since then he has never given anybody another chance to doubt his ability,'' said the Mumbai left hander.