Dasgupta puts behind SA episode

Indian stumper Deep Dasgupta on Friday said he is confident ahead of the England series and his morale unaffected by the punishment given by match referee Mike Denness for 'excessive appealing' during the Port Elizabeth Test against South Africa.

"I'm not at all affected by the punishment. It's better to leave the episode behind and concentrate on the England series," Dasgupta told newspersons on arrival in Calcutta.

Dasgupta, along with Harbhajan Singh and Shiv Sundar Das, had been handed a one-match suspended sentence upto December 31 by Denness during the second Test.

The wicketkeeper-batsman, who made his debut series against South Africa, agreed that agressive appealing is very much a part of modern cricket.

"That's it," he said when a scribe posed the question.

Asked whether the BCCI-ICC spat over the inclusion of Virender Sehwag in the playing eleven for the Mohali Test against England has left the team disturbed, Dasgupta said, "I don't think so. The board has been taking care of the happenings. We players have been kept away from all that and we are only concentrating on our game."

On Denness's charge that skipper Sourav Ganguly had failed to control his players during the Port Elizabeth Test, he said: "You have seen him (Ganguly) more than I have. You know better."

Dasgupta said the morale of the team, including that of the punished players, was was 'very high' and the off-the-field incidents had not cast any shadow on the side prior to the home series against England.

"Yes," Dasgupta replied when asked whether he is confident of putting up a good show in the coming series.

Dasgupta, who made his debut for India both in one-day internationals and Test on the just-concluded tour, gave ample evidence of his batting skills, particularly in the Test series.

His performance both as batsman and wicket keeper earned lavish praise from Ganguly, who described Dasgupta along with Sehwag as the 'significant gains' from the tour.

"He (Dasgupta) has shown maturity far beyond his years and experience. He will serve the Indian team for years to come," Ganguly said in his syndicated column.

Dasgupta said that the drawn Port Elizabeth Test, where he contributed a match-saving 63 in the second innings only a day after being punished by Denness, was the most memorable part of the tour.

To another query, Dasgupta said that he enjoys both batting and wicketkeeping.

"I have no problem in opening the innings, but the decision has to be taken by the team management," he added.

Mail Cricket Editor