Should Ganguly be brought back in the Indian team? If yes, should be brought in just as a player or should he be given the captaincy too? If no, then why not?
Update: Ganguly back?
Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly is likely to be send to South Africa to help the beleaguered Indian cricket team.According to sources Ganguly will be named in the Test team that will be selected on November 30.(link)
Update2- Okay, here is my take on it. Of course, it is more or less confirmed that Dada is on his way to SA.
First the positives:
a) Ganguly has just scored a century in domestic cricket.
b) He captained well against Punjab: all his competitive instincts are still intact.
c) Nucleus of the team is still there, so Ganguly should have little problem adjusting.
d) He performed decently in Pakistan.
e) His bowling can be useful on slow West Indian pitches- World Cup angle
Now the negatives:
a) When Ganguly was dropped, he was hopelessly out of form.
b) He hasn’t perform well in county cricket and even in much of domestic cricket.
c) Relying on veterans is of course only a short term solution.
Ultimately, purely on his own form, Ganguly doesn’t deserve his place in the team. The problem is that the young brigade has failed to click. I would think he is still a better bet than Raina and Mongia. If they have been given chances and they have failed to deliver than why not Ganguly?
The second question is of captaincy. He in my view is a still a better captain than Dravid and can provide some much needed spine to this team. It would perhaps make sense to bring him back as a captain at least for the one day version. That would cover up even if his performance is not that good as a batsman.
The crucial question here would be of Dravid. He is in my mind the most valuable Indian player and his confidence must not be shaken. If captaincy is taken away from him, then the selectors must ensure that. Second, the Greg Chappell equation. A team can’t afford to have it’s captain and coach perpetually at logger heads, if Ganguly comes back as captain, Chappell must go. Can India afford a new coach before the world cup?
In Pakistan, Ganguly showed no disinclination in playing under Dravid. The problem was that unlike other ex-captains like Tendulkar, Ganguly was/is not an automatic choice for the playing eleven. Keeping him out made Dravid uncomfortable and I think that played some role in him being dropped. If he comes back to the team only as player, then the team management should be allowed to drop him if required.
Since Ganguly is more or less in the team now, it is up to him now to perform and shut up his critics. Despite all the undoubted politics, Ganguly lost his place mainly because of his bad performances. If he can do well in South Africa, then no one can keep him out.
Finally, I hope people can keep the parochialism/regionalism out of the equation. Ganguly should play if he is useful for the team, not because some Leftist nutcases want him in. By the same yardstick, he should not be kept out merely because of this whole Bong/non-Bong nonsense. Perhaps, Ganguly’s most important contribution to the Indian cricket is that the man was totally non-parochial when it came to team composition.
R
with an extremely opportune message that hit my mobile, I start the campaign against the proposition of Ganguly’s Return to the Indian team
first this brilliant sms forward –
Richard Branson offers to sponsor the Indian cricket team but BCCI refused saying we cant have VIRGIN written on our shirts when we are getting fuck*d in every match
No – to Ganguly’s return after that EXODUS
why – he is still in search of the lost rhythm. if he comes back to the team, that frail rhythm, the team is holding onto would vanish into thin air.Not required.
I think cricket should be banned, and people should be made to read my blog
Jyothsna,
LOLzz…
Confused,
such emotions and stupid questions on media… and even you give in ?
We all talk about Ganguly back in the team, but does anyone remember why Ganguly was out of the team in the first place??? No, Chappell isnt the only one to blame.
Whats the time gap between his last one-day or Test Fifty and his last day in the team? (Ignoring that lucky century against Zimbabwe at a strike rate much lower than even test match standards).
A good captain, but he was a failure as a batsman for 2 years.. its too long a period to be out of form.
I feel sorry for him, but I think he had plenty of opportunity. In a country of nearly a billion I am pretty sure we can find a replacement – although it’s looking pretty bleak now!
As far as i remember, Ganguly was an excellent player until he dropped down the order (he played well in natwest finals, one among the last times he opened). the reason he dropped down the order was because Sachin had to open with Sehwag. Ganguly’s and Sachin’s opening pair was the best in the world. For no reason it was tampered with. ever since, he hasn’t performed. If Ganguly should be brought back, he should open with Sachin. I dont think it makes a difference if he is captain or not.
Confused
What your take?
Dada should be back.Not for cricketing reasons but for loudmouths like Gurudas Dasgupta , Somnath and Brinda to shutup
Haven’t followed the domestic cricket this season – but remember reading that Ganguly has been having an average season. He did not do particularly well in the Challengers or during his county stint. The factors favoring him are: (1) experience, (2) team not doing very well, especially most of the youngsters are not delivering and (3) he suddenly seems to be bowling well – his slow seamers could be a factor on the WI pitches (if the pitches are similar to what India played on earlier this year).
Any decision to bring back Saurav should be based on these cricketing factors alone – not because a Dalmiya or a Somnath is demanding it.
Of course, it would not be fair to reinstate him as a captain.
On somewhat related note: why is Laxman being brought into the ODI side to replace Dravid ? We don’t have any other players of ODI calibre in India ?
We should bring back Ganguly and make him captain, so if the team performs badly we can just put the blame on his captaincy and his batting performance.
No thinking required! Easy solution.
I think some analysis would help the situation, don’t y’all think? From looking at the numbers (courtesy: Rediff), it appears that Ganguly and Dravid, after 53 matches have the exact same winning % in ODIs. Amazing!
It is not that Ganguly was better, it is that our memories are shorter than we’d suspect.
Details here – http://shripriya.com/blog/2006/11/28/finally-some-analysis/
Heck, lets send Gavaskar too if they lose the next game.
Jyo,
That was a good one!
Shadows,
You jumped to conclusions without even knowing what I think!
@all,
Have updated the post with my take.
Confused,
But still, there was a reason why Ganguly was out of the team. I wonder if he has improved to such an extent that he can be recalled, or that some other talent is lying undiscovered.
If Ganguly is out, who should be kicked out…. Sehwag this time. Though he is much better than Ganguly (he makes a fifty in one in ten matches approx
these days) but that is not good enough. I think Ganguly was given a much better chance, than Kaif who is anyday a useful player in the team. Kaif is routinely dropped on the basis of a few performances, but Ganguly rested too long on his past laurels.
That would cover up even if his performance is not that good as a batsman.
===========
Confused,
you cannot afford to lose even a single player in a match. Forget that as a reason. You are saying this, at a time when most teams have wicketkeepers who double up as batsmen, which was an exception about 10 years ago.
>>By the same yardstick, he should not be kept out merely because of this whole Bong/non-Bong nonsense.
Confused, by any chance, did you hear an mp3 clipping of a Bong abusing just about everyone because Ganguly was dropped
. It was doing a good round on the email forwards circle, during the time Ganguly was dropped. Try it, its too hilarious. I dont have it, i heard it at a colleagues desk. Someone here who has it might forward it to you..
“Gaurav
I think cricket should be banned, and people should be made to read my blog ”
I have been enjoying your blog for some time now and think if others still do not read and like it, they deserve to watch the pathetic show Indian cricket tems puts up :p .
Confused:
.
Apologies for the out of order quip
IMHO Ganguly should be considered again, as he atleast managed to make other players in the team play. It had started showing signs of an Indian team rather then “a lot of good players”. But as suggested he is only a stop gap solution.
R
Post-browsing your updates, I could recall
“Careful. We don’t want to learn from this.”
Pat: it is just me, or do I detect a hint of snarkiness in your comment
I really wonder if Ganguly can shore up the middle order in Tests, especially in SAF. Who knows, perhaps he will channel that innings at Brisbane.
Shivani,
Thanks, I am glad this I am able to salvage something from this wreck of blog.
Confused,
Update, I demand that you shut down this blog and devote yourself entirely to NI