Long break not to affect team: Ganguly
India have not played any international cricket since December last year, but the skipper said his players had done their homework.
Indian captain Sourav Ganguly on Monday said the two-month break from international cricket at the start of the year would not affect his side's performance against Pakistan as his players had done their homework during the long lay-off.
India have not played any international cricket since beating Bangladesh in a Test as well as one-day series in December last year, but Ganguly said his side kept a close watch over the Pakistanis over the last few months.
"We have taken our points on the Pakistan team. I watched them in Australia, in the VB Series and how they did in Dharamshala. We are ready," Ganguly said on the eve of the first of the three Tests starting from Tuesday.
Ganguly was aware that his players, having played together for a few years now, were well-settled.
"We are balanced and have been together for some time now. But cricket is never played on paper. Anyone who seizes his moment in the series would end up winner," said the Indian skipper.
Ganguly denied he faced any pressure either on account of his own form or the pressure of squaring up to Pakistan in a home series.
"I might not have had a hundred in the last two years but my average is over 50. There were a number of times when I was close to a century," said the dashing left-hander.
"As for pressure, this is nothing new. We were under pressure when we toured Pakistan because we were expected to beat them in their conditions for the first time," Ganguly said.
From a defensive mindset, the teams from Pakistan and India are actually trying to be aggressive and force the issue and Ganguly attributed it to the changing methods in international cricket.
"This has been because of one-day cricket. In the last three-four years, the pace of the game has changed. There are more decisions in Test match cricket," he said.
