ourav Ganguly's announcement of his retirement

Bangalore, Oct 8 (PTI) Sourav Ganguly's announcement of his retirement

just before the first Test will act as a distraction for the Indians and they will

be under pressure in the series, Australian skipper Ricky Ponting said

today.
"It (Ganguly's retirement) will certainly create distractions. And we have

experienced it when Steve Waugh, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and

Adam Gilchrist retired," Ponting said ahead of the first Test here tomorrow.

"The decision takes pressure off Sourav but puts pressure on some other

and the Indian players will certainly be facing that for the next four weeks.

I'm sure the crowd in India will be eager to come out and see Sourav play

his last Tests. And that will add to the overall spectacle of the series," said

Ponting.

The visiting skipper said his deputy Michael Clarke will be available for the

first Test. "He (Clarke) had a stomach bug yesterday. He took part in the

training session today and feeling good. He will be fine for the game

tomorrow." He said the final decision on his playing XI will be decided

tomorrow morning.

"Probably Jason Krejza or Cameron White, one of them will play. We will

finalise it tomorrow morning." Ponting seemed to be quite satisfied with the

pitch for the first Test and said, "The pitch has changed a little bit compared

to what it was yesterday afternoon. It looks very good to me.

"Greg Chappell also feels that the pitch looks like helping batsmen in the

first couple of days before helping the spinners. It's overcast and humid

weather out here and there will be variation in the bounce as the match

progresses." PTI