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Rediff.com  » Cricket » 'Ganguly wicket was crucial'

'Ganguly wicket was crucial'

Source: PTI
November 07, 2008 21:19 IST
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Rookie Australian off-spinner Jason Krejza on Friday described his dismissal of Sourav Ganguly as the most important among the five wickets he took on the second day of the fourth and final cricket Test in Nagpur.

"Ganguly's wicket was crucial," the 25-year-old off-spinner said after finishing with an eight-wicket haul in his debut Test, the sixth bowler to do so and third from his country.

He sent back Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ganguly within the space of three balls to revive Australian hopes of a comeback in the crucial Test.

"We changed the field around a bit. I gave myself more protection so that I could attack. Ganguly was a good one for me.

"There not being much help for (bowling against) left-handers and to get him, that was out-thinking," he said.

Krejza sent back Dhoni, Ganguly, Zaheer Khan, Amit Mishra and Ishant Sharma for just 20 runs in a post-lunch stint to help Australia dismiss India for 441 after the hosts were 404 for five at the end of the first session.

Ignored by the visiting team's think-tank for the first three Tests of the series in which they are trailing 0-1, Krejza's magical 26-ball stint for 15 runs helped his team bounce back when things looked bleak at lunch break.

Krejza he singled out the wicket of Rahul Dravid on Thursday, his first, as the most memorable of his haul.

"The first wicket definitely, getting Rahul Dravid. I had worked it out in my mind and it came out as I had planned," he said.

The amount of runs he gave, a very high 215, did not bother the youngster who said, "It is important we got those wickets."

The off-spinner, who joined compatriots Albert Trott and Bob Massie in the list of bowlers to have taken eight-wicket hauls on debut, said that it was the Indian wickets, and not SG balls, which were making the difference.

"It's different, the SG balls from the Kookaburras. But just like the Indians have to get used to Kookaburras in Australia we have to get used to the balls here. It's the type of wickets that are making the difference," he said.

He also thanked Indian left-arm spin great Bishan Singh Bedi who had helped them in Delhi before the third Test.

"Bishan had been a great help. He told us to relax when bowling," he said.

"I was just trying to keep my emotions under control. It's a bit of a blur still. It's incredible to achieve a feat like that against the best players of spin in the world," Krejza added.

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