Bizarre. That's the only way you can explain the Indian selection committe.
First of all, the selection of Ganguly in the test side was strange ... he was brought in as an allrounder - a batsman who could bowl. In fact that was the reason they decided to drop Zaheer!! Can you imagine how Zaheer must have felt at the time? And worse, can you imagine how Ganguly must have felt at that time?? But hey, these are Indian selectors - they can do what they want and justify in such pathetic ways and not be held responsible.
And then the kicker. The first test gets rained out and in the second test Ganguly does not-so-bad, and he gets dropped. Midway through the series??? What the heck!! Why is a team announced only for a part of the series in the first place? Especially since it is a home series and especially since it is such a short series. Why not keep the team intact for the entire series?
Anyway, that is besides the point. The point is that Ganguly did not need to be dropped midway through the series. It is basically indicating that he performed badly and he needs to be let go and Jaffer needs to be brought in because we need an opener. Well, if you need an opener, drop Sehwag since he is unwell! Why drop a middle order bat who is fit and has played ok, and keep the opener who is unwell?
Aaaargh. When will the selection committe be held responsible to the public?
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They just luv controversies dont they. Do check out Times of India tomorrow and you'd see tuns of articles ...
Sehwag is recovering and would play the next test. But yeah selectors should stay put till the series gets over. But then it happens only in India ;-)
Hey sup,
Came across your blog while searching for USC blogs.. Yours was the only one I could find with any comfort and which is still updated regularly. I am from Pakistan and will be starting my Graduate MSC at USC in Jan 2006. Was wondering if we can Blogroll one another.
On the note of Ganguly, I agree, it is strange to drop a batsman who is performing ok midway. It is a weird practice and sometimes Pakistani selectors have been known to do the same. Congratulations on winning the second Test. Massive performance by the Indians.
I am looking forward to the Pakistan vs Indian series coming and it will be a fun discussion between the Pakistan and Indian Bloggers come next series. :). See you around. Adding your blog to my bloglist and Live Feeding it.
Reza Malik.
That there is politics involved is very clear. Perhaps it was involved in getting him into the squad in the first place (Dalmiya was still the boss then). And to justify that inclusion, they had to put that all-rounder twist to it. It must have been a plan to justify his return, as in the domestic matches previous to that selection, he worked hard on his bowling and took wickets. Well, int the test, his bowling was never utilised.
If _that_ selection was a political one, then the selectors had to find a way to offload him and revert to normalcy in life. With the rained out test, there was no justification to drop, and here with meagre scores and Yuvraj doing a good job, was the only chance that they could dump him. What is he played and scored a ton in the 3rd test? Then, you were stuck!
So... !
On paper, and leaving emotions aside, the comments by More make sense.. that they have more confidence in Yuvraj, and he needs to get more opportunities, etc. And that if Ganguly is taken and kept in reserves, that would not be right. In a way, fair enough.
As far as Jaffer's inclusion, well, he is there to put pressure on Gambhir, not on account of Sehwag's fitness issues.
** Some interesting / funny asides:
- TOI claims that Ganguly used to be at the boundary and the team did not wait for him to come into the huddle and formed it without him, when wickets fell, and he found it hard to get into it..I did not see the game, so I don't know how true this is. If true, its bad..
- After he was dropped, no senior member went to see him in his room for another 4 hours!
- Did the rest of the team think that he was responsible for the negative crowd behaviour at Kolkata? Or they know something more, perhaps about his manipulation attempts somewhere? I cannot imagine any other reason for the team to shun him, other than that he had betrayed them, in the political scheme of things.
- Strange that Chappell talked of him also being a mentor and a senior player, and being happy with his form, a day before he was dropped
- Funniest moment: Kiran More swearing on his daughter that the decision to drop Ganguly was unanimous (in true philumi ishtyle.. "main meri beti ki kasam khata hoon, mi lord, ke maine khoon nahi kiya...")
ha ha ha ha ...
The interesting/funny asides are funny indeed.
What's wrong with More? damn !!
It is really sad how Ganguly is made the pawn in the power struggle between Dalmiya and Pawar. He does not deserve this. He is after all the most successfuly captain India has had.
He is the one that put together the team that made a great run in the World Cup 2003. He is the one who has always backed 'his guys'. Now we see him discarded and face a situation almost like Kapil Dev faced in his ending days.
Sad.
Reza, I have Live Bookmarked you.
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