Stand-in cricket captain Rahul Dravid says Sourav Ganguly alone is not to be blamed for India's slow over-rate and the players need to address the issue urgently to avoid further trouble.
"It is a responsibility of the whole squad. It is an area we have to do a lot better. It is not just the captain alone but the bowlers and fielders too have to be responsible," Dravid, who will lead India in the remaining two one-dayers against Pakistan, said in Kanpur on Thursday.
Ganguly was banned for six one-dayers after India failed to complete their overs within the stipulated time for the second successive match in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
However, the skipper has been cleared by the ICC to play pending a resolution of his appeal against the ban.
Dravid, embarrassed at the suggestion that the team might be without him too if it continues to fail in completing the overs in time, denied it was a deliberate ploy to upset the opposition's rhythm.
"It has never been deliberate ... We have got to be responsible. We have identified a couple of reasons (for the team's repeated slow over-rate) but we will discuss in the team meetings and make sure it doesn't happen again," he said on the eve of the fifth one-dayer at the Green Park stadium.
Dravid said the team so far has no information about whether Ganguly would play in Friday's match.
"We don't want to think about that. We have been doing our preparation the way we do," he said.
He said talent alone cannot earn the team success in the series.
"We have the players to win the series but we need to play good cricket. Pakistan is a strong side and, as you said, it has been five years, so it would be nice to win."
India's last series victory at home, excluding a win over Zimbabwe, came in 2000 against South Africa. They lost to Australia and the West Indies besides a tri-series, and were tied by England in a six-match series.
The Karnataka batsman expects the track to be a traditional slow, low bounce wicket.
"It is tough to predict what is a winning score but Kanpur has been traditionally a slow and low wicket. I don't think it is going to be any different this time.
"The Toss could be important but Pakistan showed in the last match that chasing a high target is not impossible. I hope the wicket stays well through out ... Toss is something that is not in our hands."
Dravid was wary about Pakistan's batting dominance.
"Inzamam and Shoaib Malik in particular have shown how to chase a big target. It is their middle order that has hurt us," he said.
The stand-in captain agreed that India did not do enough to defend a target of 316 in the last match.
"We did not defend well. We bowled well but ... we needed to execute our skills better. Hopefully, we won't repeat the same mistakes."
He said with the series tied 2-2, "there was still a lot to play for by both the teams".
As a captain, "I don't want to do anything different, just do things as I normally do. I am confident of the support from my teammates that I had always received," Dravid said.
Pakistan vice-captain Younis Khan said with two successive wins, his team is peaking at the right time.
"India won the series in our home last year, and the Test series (here) was tied. So we want to win the one-dayers and take something back home," he said.
"Shahid (Afridi), at the moment, is very good. The 30-40 runs he gets in 16-20 balls is really good for us.
"Shoaib Malik has done well with the bat. He is a bowler as well and we want to utilise him as one. It is a great benefit for us when he gets his rhythm back. We have plenty of choice. I am not getting to bat actually.
"But one-day cricket is (played) on the day. The team that bats well on the day will win."
The 28-year old Pathan said Sachin Tendulkar, who bowled the last over when Pakistan needed three to win and almost tied the game in Ahmedabad, is not a major threat to his team.
"We worked out that. In the first two matches he gave us some trouble but not now. We have little bit of control over that," he said.
