There's been a lot of hulaballo about ganguly's ouster from the
team. The media has completely demolished the selectors like they are
'lambs to be slaughtered'(they probably are). Board politics aside the
fact is that they would have been treated in the same manner even if
they had been honest. Make no mistake, it would have been a tough call
to make for even honest selectors. if you are thinking 'why', i'll try
to make you understand in the following lines. But coming back to the
media, the problem with them is that they never have enough time to
analyse issues. Whenever a news comes out they are in a race to show it
earlier and hence end up using people's sentiments to gain TRP's. It
probably explains the attention given to the Ganguly story at a time
when the WTO meet is going on, which involves more important issues
for the nation and hence deserves much greater attention. These are the
same media persons who were up in arms against ganguly when he was out
of form.
Coming back to the Ganguly ouster, initially even I was
surprised when I heard the news. But later on when I thought about it
closely, the following things came to my mind. There is no doubt that
Yuvraj would have replaced Ganguly at some point. In this ageing test
team, if there is any slot open for a youngster, it is that of
Ganguly's. India's is a middle order which has been untouchable for a
long time now. It's high time that we infused some young blood in
there. Yuvraj with his strong performances was pushing hard for a long
time. And now after his 77* in the Delhi test he simply couldn't have
been dropped. It seems to me that Pathan is not going to open regularly
for India, and probably that is why they have selected 3 openers as
they probably are'nt sure whether Sehwag is going to be fit in time for
the 3rd test. A few people might think that if Pathan is not going to
open regularly, then why at all was he given the opening slot in Delhi?
Now we must not forget that such experimenting was in view in the ODI's
as well. There's no doubt about Pathan's batting ability but, this is
not an age of all-rounders. It demands a physicality which Pathan does
not have and opening both the bowling and batting for India would put
tremendous pressure on him. It might end up either curtailing his
career or affecting his bowling. So Pathan up in the batting order now
does give us an extra option but it should only be used sparingly. It
would surprise the oppsition and in these changing times for cricket
where the game has become a lot more physical, it would probably be the
best use of Pathan. Although it remains to be seen whether it is
actually done. As for Gambhir, they probably dont want to dump him
straightaway(probably in view of his ODI performances). Also since the
opening slot has been the point of contention for India for a long time
now, they are giving him some time. Although I think, if he doesnt work
on his technique, he would struggle against good bowling attacks.
Also, the inclusion of Jaffer suggests that they are probably
going to work on the opening slot, to find out the right man for the
job. Plus with another contender for the post sitting in the dressing
room, there would be extra pressure on the man in the eleven to
deliver.
In view of the above issues, I feel that the exclusion of
Ganguly is not at all unfair and his supporters should look at the
issue more neutrally shedding their sentiments for a while. After all
its team India which is dearer to us rather than an individual.
