Australian skipper Ricky Ponting was avoiding any inflammatory remarks ahead of the one-day opener against India in Vadodara last night, the hotbed where monkey chants were directed against allrounder Andrew Symonds in 2007. Uncompromising leader Ganguly, who clashed repeatedly with counterpart Steve Waugh during India's memorable 2001 Test series win here, would rather watch ugly Australians than polite tourists.
"By playing hard and being competitive on the field, I don't think does anything which would make me feel they are hurting the spirit of the game," said notorious pot-stirrer Ganguly of Australia.
Ganguly's stance contrasts with that of habitual Aussie basher and former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar.
Incredibly, Ponting's conciliatory approach has been noted by a suspicious Indian media wrong-footed by the Aussies leader's relaxed build-up to the seven-match one-day series.
Ganguly, who revealed he would arrive late to coin throws with former counterpart Waugh to "get on the same level as the Australians", privately admires their "no prisoners" philosophy.
"Let's be honest, that (aggression) is what people come to watch," said Ganguly, who blazed 324 runs at an average of 54 as India regained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in his farewell series last October.
"That is why the Australia v India series have attracted so much attention, media, viewership and that is part of the package."
Ganguly, 37, wrote the copybook on confidence as skipper from 2000-2005 that is now followed by India's new generation stars. He wants successor Mahendra Dhonis's line-up to serve up the aggression.
"I think there will be a lot of competitiveness. India will come hard at them with these aggressive young boys they have," said Ganguly, once "given an A- for annoyance" by Waugh.
"Gautam Gambhir was having a good chat with Simon Katich in Delhi during the last Test series.
"I wouldn't be surprised if I see a lot more action other than cricket on the park. I don't see any problem with the spirit on the field.
"I am expecting Dhoni to win this series for India. I am sure he has the team that will stand up."