Saurav Ganguly continues to evoke strong reactions(Cricinfo Magazine,February 2006). Sadly, the performance of the Indian team in the one dayers leaves little room for the left hander to make a comeback. Paradoxically, a poor run in the limited overs version by the team could have made the clamour for his inclusion in the team a lot stronger. As an Indian, I don't want the team to lose to any team, and especially, not to Pakistan. At the same time, I cannot but scheme how to make Ganguly a part of the team once again.
I agree with the view that players with age on their side have to be tried out for the long term interest of the team. But it makes little sense to try someone just for the sake for trying. In the two innings that he played, Gambhir was not upto the mark. On any given day, Ganguly, is definitely a lot superior to the Delhi batsman. It was also not too long ago, that Saurav was replaced by Wasim Jaffer for the test at Ahmedabad and the Mumbai opener was made to warm the bench.
Ganguly baiters would cite the inability of the man to handle fast bowling especially, the short pitched stuff. But look at the way, the Indian batsmen collapsed to their feet, in the third test in Pakistan. The wicket was no way near to the Brisbane test where Ganguly made a ton on the great tour to down under. Few also remember the century scored at Leeds which resulted in a victory for India.
Clearly, this is a case of applying different criteria to different people. Suddenly, it became a fashion to whip Saurav, particularly after the incidents in Zimbabwe.
Whatever happens to Saurav, I am proud of his achievements. He was the one who made the entire country proud by standing upto his opponents.
No comments:
Post a Comment