Sourav Ganguly once called himself the "most hated" man in India. Yet within three weeks, the Indian cricket captain and the Indians have put an entire army of critics on the defensive. Different from most Indian captains in attitude and demeanour, Ganguly talked to Associate Editor Sharda Ugra about the World Cup campaign.

Q. There is talk that you are thinking of quitting the captaincy.
A. Why should I? Yes, captaincy has taken a lot out of me. It is a tough job but there are benefits too-the happiness in seeing my team in a World Cup semi-final and, by God's grace, in a final. It is an achievement in a player's career. It is easier for a captain when his team does well. Then you are a genius, but when you don't do well, you are useless. It is important for a captain to first build his team, get them to play well and then work on tactics on the field.

Q. After this World Cup, where do you think India stands?
A. The only team that has played better than us in one-day cricket is Australia.

Q. The critics say only criticism provokes the team into performing.
A. That is ridiculous. We are international sportsmen, professionals, we know our responsibilities. However much people want our success, they cannot want it more than we do.

Q. Which was more of a grudge match-Pakistan or New Zealand?
A. When we played New Zealand, there was little pressure because we had already qualified for the semi-final. But the pressure on us was huge against Pakistan. I kept saying it was just another game to take the pressure off the boys so that they could go and play freely. But it can't be just another game. When they score 270, they don't lose often. But we took the game away from them in the first 15 overs.

Q. All the players you have backed appear to have vindicated your faith.
A. You have to recognise the potential of a player and back him. It may not sound good but, honestly speaking, this is one team I have built on my own. It has taken me two years and I've tried to persuade the selectors who had other opinions because the boys were not doing well at some stages. I realised that these were the guys who had special talents, who could win you games. I always knew that if these guys could fire we would beat any side in the world.

"Sachin is such a huge influence on the team, more so now the pressure is of him"

Q. Is Tendulkar a freer batsman now that there is less dependence on him?
A. He is a huge influence on the team. You cannot keep on putting pressure on him saying "you have to win the game". With someone like Veeru (Sehwag) scoring runs at the other end, it takes the pressure off Sachin.

Q. How much did the sessions with Sandy Gordon, the psychologist, help?
A. He focused very much on team-building-he made the boys realise that if they were to be successful as players they have to be successful as a team. That's one thing that has to be drilled into Indian cricket-into players, selectors, officials, media and the people. If a guy gets 30 off 20 balls in a crucial situation, it is as good as scoring 100 at the top of the order. These things have to be realised. A lot of people feel that if they score 30, play shots and get out, then they may not be picked for the next game. That should not be the focus of a cricketer; the focus should be to get that 30, help the team get to a stronger position and win the game. That makes you as good as anyone else in the team. We won the game against England because of the Dravid-Yuvraj, Dravid-Kaif partnerships.

Q. Are the huddle and the slogan part of the team-building exercises?
A. Our theme for this World Cup is "Now or Never". It is just to make the boys aware that every minute of the 100 overs we play is important. You cannot relax, you cannot let your concentration wander, you cannot stop focusing. So whenever we pick a wicket, we get into a huddle, into our theme, we say we have done just a little bit of the job, it is time for the next step. So get focused, put the same effort, keep the same intensity and get ready for the next wicket. It's just to keep everybody awake and thinking, I think it has worked and the intensity on the field has improved.

Q. How did having team captains in bowling, batting and fielding work to that end?
A. It just gets everyone involved, makes everybody think and feel important, feel that they are as good as Ganguly or Tendulkar or Dravid in the team. That is it's not just the captain or only a few people speaking. No matter how young or inexperienced you are, you have to think it is your team and you have to contribute to the team's success. It is just an exercise to get the team to think, to get everyone to work together. Anyone can say anything to me, it has always been that way. There are times when someone detects a small mistake on the field and tells me to move this fielder, change that bowler. Rahul tells me things, Sachin does, Srinathji tells me the most! Even Kaif. I have realised Kaif has got a very good head. I have always listened to what people tell me and most of the time I apply it.

Q. This is your first World Cup as captain-is it more stressful?
A. Being World Cup captain is a completely different ball game. The pressure and the hype around this event is huge. But I felt very honoured and proud carrying the Indian flag at the opening ceremony. When we came to the Cup, we knew we had a good team. We had built this team and had small targets-you don't come in thinking that you are going to win. Our first target was to qualify for the Super Six with points, which we did, and when we got there, the second step was to qualify for the semi-finals. But by the time we reached the Super Six, we had played so well in the group stages that we were in the running for the semis. Now it's a different goal ...

Q. India were known in cricket as a soft team. Has that image gone now?
A. I have heard Stephen Fleming and Nasser Hussain say that we are a tough team. Steve Waugh left India saying that in his career no Indian team had fought as hard as we had. After the Test series against England, Nasser said that this was mentally the toughest Indian side he had faced. I think people look at us differently.

SANDEEP PATIL
Super Chaperone
Taking derision in his stride, the former Indian cricketer nursed cricket's minnows to a semi-final spot

MENTOR: Patil (right) transformed the Kenyans

Sandeep Patil is a man re-discovered. Suddenly his phone is ringing non-stop, he is greeted by people he doesn't recognise and, thank God, he is asked to give an opinion on Navjot Singh Sidhu. Actually, Patil, coach of the Kenyan team that is the shock African representative in the World Cup semi-finals, has already given his opinion on Sidhu to the sardar of the simile himself.

During the tri-nation series in South Africa in 2001, Sidhu and Patil ran into each other at a restaurant in Port Elizabeth after Kenya had pulled off a victory over India; Sidhu had been baiting Kenya saying they shouldn't have been in the tournament in the first place and Patil told him-not so politely-to hold his peace forever. Hold Your Peace II has come in this World Cup: every time Kenya advanced, Patil launched a stinging attack on everyone making snide remarks about his team. No minnow can progress in a World Cup without snobs moaning about the drop in standards. Patil has no time for those who say that playing Kenya is as easy as taking candies from babies. When Kenya made it to the semi-finals, the coach said, "We're carrying lots of candies now ... lick them."

A club professional in Nairobi for 14 years and coach of the national team for the past four, Patil, 47, says he has seen most of the players, "since they were crawling around in their nappies". Now he has decided to make the World Cup his last major assignment with Kenya. Kenyan captain Steve Tikolo would have it otherwise: "We know he has a contract with the board but the players would be happy if he could stay. He has brought out 100 per cent from each player."

Patil is now keen to ply his trade in India: "It's up to the Indian board to decide if they want my services." He has had a shot at the India job, working for six months as national coach after the 1996 World Cup. The only good in that episode was the Test debuts in England of two batsmen, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, now India's captain and vice-captain.

In his playing days, Patil blazed through Indian cricket like a meteor headed for earth with a detonator strapped on. A hard-hitting middle order batsman who faced an Australian attack wearing a white floppy hat, he was hit on the temple and sent to hospital by the inconsiderate Aussie Len Pascoe. He returned helmeted in the next match and scored 174. And he holds the record for hitting six consecutive boundaries in an over of a Test, at Old Trafford in 1982.

As popular a figure as Virender Sehwag these days, Patil acted in a Hindi film opposite Debashree Roy, wrote a book and then retired from the international game into the wilderness of domestic cricket at the age of 30. He was one of the Ranji Trophy "pioneers" drafted by Madhavrao Scindia to work with the Madhya Pradesh team. It was a controversial appointment and he was greeted at run-down cricket grounds with black flag demonstrations. But he went on to take the state to its first Ranji semi-final and believes there is a certain symmetry in the fact that he has taken Kenya into the final four of the Cup. Now Sandeep Patil is returning home, a tired but satisfied man.