The irony of Indian Cricket.... Review on Saurav Ganguly

Indian cricket has changed a lot during last 6 months; now a player who has scored more than 15000 runs in international cricket (including 10000+ in ODIs and 5000+ in test cricket) can’t be sure of his place in team even after putting some good performances. I have not been a die-hard fan of Saurav Ganguly, but I have been a cricket lover; it has been the game which has always fascinated me.

Here are few facts that say that Ganguly’s exclusion at this point of time is not justified.

1. Utility of Waseem Jafar:

Waseem Jafar is an opener and when you have two prominent openers in your team, you will not be including the 3rd opener in playing eleven. So if an opener in being included in the team, the other opener should have been put outside of the team.

Probably it’s a new kind of strategy from the new BCCI think tank, which says that replacing a middle order batsman by an opener can bring good to the team.

2. Not breaking the winning streak:

Just a month back when India was leading 3-0 in the One-day series against Srilanka, selections committee sit to choose the members of Indian cricket team for next few matches. Saurav Ganguly was not taken into the team with the excuse being “we don’t want to change the winning combination”; now where the hell this “winning combination funda” has gone????

3. Looking at the future (Don't they think of present):

The selection committee chairman said “looking at the future of Indian cricket” Yuvraj has been included in the team, since he would be playing a crucial role in Indian cricket’s future. True, Yuvraj is a good player; I don’t deny that but the contradictory statement from a BCCI official “we want to give youngsters more chance” should mean that Kumble, Laxman, Sachin and Dravid should also be forced to step down as they are more or less same old as Ganguly.

4. Praise from Captain, dejection from selectors:

I believe the most important factor in putting up a good score.is “Partnership”; after Delhi test, even the captain quoted that Ganguly played very well and has been involved in two very crucial partnerships that helped us winning the match. After getting such a complement no player in the cricket has has lost his place in the team, Ganguly set (read: forced to set) another record. Didn’t the selectors notice that Ganguly has played a crucial role in winning the match??

5. Political effect:

Many people are saying that Ganguly had been included in the Indian team due to political pressure in both 1992 and 1996, so what’s wrong if he gets out of the team due to this damn politics. They should also realize that this man has given a lot to Indian cricket, has been most successful captain of India ever, has won many matches for the team, and has scored a lot of runs.

Now people have even started blaming the captain for Gunguly’s exclusion; well I don’t agree with them. This has nothing to do with the captain, he has been a clean cricketer always and he will be. I agree that there was a huge support in favor of Ganguly in BCCI officials a few months back and now some rivals of him have the power in their hand. It has been a very famous adage in Hindi “Jiski Laathi uski bhains”, so obviously the same applies here also. It is for sure that Ganguly’s future seems doomed, but at the same time if the same keeps on happening then Indian cricket’s future also doesn’t seem very bright to me.