12 April 2005	Tuesday	02 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426

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AHMEDABAD (India), April 11: Pakistan captain Inzamamul Haq said on Monday that winning the toss was a big advantage in the ongoing One-day International series against India. “Teams batting first after winning the toss in the current series have posted huge scores which are very difficult to chase,” Inzamam said ahead of the fourth one-dayer to be played here on Tuesday.

The first three games of the ongoing six-match series were won by teams batting first. India currently lead 2-1.

“I have been saying all along that batting first is a very big advantage, especially in these hot conditions. Half the battle is won if you bat first on such flat tracks,” said Inzamam.

“When a team is chasing a big total, it is bound to lose early wickets while going for quick runs. That is what happened with India in the last match.”

India lost the previous match at Jamshedpur when they scored 213 in reply to Pakistan’s 319-9.

The hosts had won the first two matches batting first, scoring 281-8 at Cochin and 356-9 at Visakhapatnam.

Inzamam said his team had returned to winning ways.

“Our boys are delighted with the win in the last match and we are sure the series will go to the wire,” he said.

India skipper Saurav Ganguly played down the significance of the toss.

“Toss is an important factor, but I don’t think it is enough to make a match lop-sided,” said Ganguly, who has been struggling for runs in the ongoing series.

“I have had some fine moments here and hope to get back in form in tomorrow’s game,” said the Indian captain, who has scored just 13 runs in three matches.

Ganguly had also struggled in the preceding three-Test series, making just 48 runs in five innings.

“I’ve not only scored one-day hundreds here but also two Test hundreds,” Ganguly said.

He struck two centuries against New Zealand in Ahmedabad in 1999 and 2003.

“This venue has lots of happy memories. I hope it’ll prove good for me again.”

There have been calls from several quarters for Ganguly’s sacking, not only over the lack of runs but also because of the manner of his dismissals.

“I’ve received lot of criticism but there has also been support,” Ganguly said.

“I realise it’s my responsibility to score runs. I’ve had lots of good performances in my career in the past and there’s no reason why I can’t do well again.”

The 32-year-old Ganguly has scored 22 one-day centuries, second only to team-mate Sachin Tendulkar’s 37, and is 51 short of 10,000 runs in the shorter version of the game.—Agencies