Sourav hopeful of winning Test series against Aussies

Former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly is hopeful of winning the four match Test series after being selected a member of the team for the first two matches against touring Australia.

Kolkata/Hyderabad, Oct 2 : Former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly is hopeful of winning the four match Test series after being selected a member of the team for the first two matches against touring Australia.

Ganguly, while talking to reporters here last evening, said that India could win the series if it played to its potential.

"If we play well to our potential, we are going to win. India will definitely win this series, but we'll have to play well. It's not going to be easy, but if we play well we can beat them," said Ganguly.

He was included in the squad for the first two Tests against Australia, by the newly appointed selection panel headed by Krish Srikkanth.

Earlier, Ganguly was ignored for the Irani Cup tie touted as a selection trial by the previous committee with Dilip Vengsarkar at the helm.

The selectors also picked up India Premier League (IPL) hat-trick boy and Delhi spinner Amit Mishra and Tamil Nadu batsman S Badrinath in Indian squad for the first two Tests.

"As a player, I was bound to expect it. I am really happy. The call has come and hope to make the most of it," Badrinath said in Hyderabad.

The 15-member squad comprises of Anil Kumble (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, S Badrinath, MS Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, RP Singh and Amit Mishra.

Yuvraj Singh, who did not find place in the Indian squad, said he hopes to do well as captain of Board President's XI for the warm-up match against Australia in Hyderabad on Thursday.

"Selection is not in my hands but couple of weeks before I have scored 117 in the test match. I'm pretty confident of getting my form back. I hope the team has a good game," Singh said.

Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has stated that the India-Australia Test series would be a good series.

"What I would like to say is that this could be one of the great test series. I think both the teams will play very good test cricket. Australian team is really excited about playing in India. We are looking forward to hopefully win the Gavaskar-Border trophy," said Ponting.

The first test will be played in Bangalore from October 9 with the second game of the four-match series starting in Mohali on October 17. New Delhi and Nagpur stage the last two matches.

ANI