Ill-timed Hurricane

Indian Cricket seems to be attacked by hurricanes with alarming regularity. Most of them are related to selector-decisions. Sourav Ganguly was initially dropped from the ODI squad, much to no-ones surprise. He was then infiltrated into the Test Side much to everyone's shock. At that point, it seemed like a Dalmiya diktat more than a selectors decision. After that he performed well in the Tests. A regime change happened. Ganguly was abruptly dropped from the Test side. Fingers were pointed. Accusations were rife. Demonstrations happened in every nook and corner of India. Politics was seen playing an important role in the proceedings rather than Cricket. I deliberately refrained from writing my opinion at that sensitive period when things were happening and changing almost every 12 hours. Now the dust seems to have settled. Here is my opinion on all that happened:

The Test selection of Ganguly happened as a political decree. He played well in the tests and all credit to him for making an 'all-round' effort (batting and fielding only). But the selectors did not have Ganguly in the longer picture of Indian Test cricket. So they decided to axe him. It was a selector-decision and not a political one. However, the timing of the axe was awfully wrong. The manner of axe was dreadfully wrong. But the idea of axing was not that wrong. Ganguly has been a remarkable thing to have happened to Indian cricket and he needed a graceful exit than the haphazard one that he actually received. A great players exit has to be planned well. This was not done and the selectors have received a more-than-enough amount of flak for it. As for the central issue of all this ruckus - the removal of Ganguly, well it was on the cards. Ganguly, though showing a lot of commitment, is not the old devastating Ganguly anymore. Signs of an aging star, a burnt out cricketer are seen very markedly. Ganguly fans, of course, don't see them.

With the future tour of Pakistan in sight, the current Ganguly would be tormented by the bouncers/short-pitched deliveries from Akhtar, Hasan, Sami and Co. Also news about Pakistan preparing bouncy tracks for the Indian tour pouring in, the scene becomes even worse for Ganguly. So his removal, at least of the Pakistan tour, is justified. Having said that, this axing can also be a blessing in disguise for him. Ganguly can now go back to first-class cricket to hone himself for a possible stint against England later. If he thinks that he has a lot of Cricket left in him, he need not worry! He has the whole nation backing him in wake of the injustice meted out to him. That is a definite confidence booster.

Pondering in hindsight, the selectors should had waited for the Sri Lanka test series to be over before announcing Ganguly's removal. Their haste is where it all went wrong.