Sacking Saurav

It seems like Chappel, Dravid & co have atlast achieved what they finally wanted - sacking Saurav and pushing him out of the team. A lot can be argued about his form and fitness but no one can rule out the fact that it is definitely a case of vested interests.

Well we will have to take a closer look at the turn of events ever since Saurav was forced to step down as captain. There is no doubt that its in the best interest of the team that this decision was taken, but showing Saurav the batsman the doors, isn't justified.

Saurav has been a king in one dayers, not so a charming batsman when it comes to tests. After a slack in his form, ideally he should have been asked to step down as captain and concentrate as a batsman - more so in one dayers where many a times he has rattled the opposition and hit the ball all around the park. No one can deny that when Saurav used to stray down the pitch to lift a spinner it was a treat to watch. No other batsman after Sidhu, has in recent times, taken spinners to task as much as Ganguly. Given that, it didn't require any cricketing sense but pure common sense to make Ganguly better his current form in one dayers rather than tests. But then you dont expect the Indian selectors (read jokers) to act with some sense. He was soon dropped from the ODI home series and then a lot of controversies followed. Now the selectors had no other go but to include Ganguly in the test squad. A lot of inner motives seem to be revealed around here. Given Gangulys style of batting and his earlier track record, it will be easy for him to reestablish himself in onedayers. The first thing that the jokers and the team management together did was to put an end to it. But then they also have to cut out the controversies that follow. So they made him a part of the test squad. A couple of failures and he can be thrown out. Perhaps the most cunning move ever made in cricketing history !!!

The Indian skipper Dravid, who once famously said "On the off side, first there is God and then there is Saurav Ganguly", now talks about form, fitness and having youngsters in the side. Not long ago, when there were better young cricketers performing beautifully in one dayers and Dravid could not fit himself in, given his then style of batting in ODIs, Ganguly provided him a chance. He asked Dravid to don the gloves so that he could fit him in. That saw the birth of Dravid the one day batsman who has now transformed himself into one of the best finishers of the game. To repay it back, Dravid should have provided Ganguly a chance in one dayers, preferably at the opening slot, where Sehwag wasn't having a good time out in the middle. Sehwag has always maintained that he would like to go down the order and it would have also probably given him a chance to redeem his form. Dravid proved that he was a thankless human. Immortal souls are neverthelss always forgiven !!!

With all the hungama going around, Saurav the fighter faught hard. In the limited outings he had he did a decent job. Remember the way Saurav stood and played out the dangerous Akhtar which is very important. It is as important in test cricket to play out an innings as it is important in one dayers to steal a quick single. India found themselves in a situation where if not for Ganguly and Yuvraj there was no one else who could play off a few overs. What is the point in having falmboyant batsman who scores some pretty quick runs but can't sail the ship through. Ganguly got out only to some poor shots - pardonable once in a while - and was not beaten as used to be the case during his last few outings as a captain. Given the way he batted recently he should have been in the test squad purely on merit.

But alas,the jokers did it again !!! They dropped Ganguly. Not for an in form Yuvraj, but for the dynamic Kaif who has an impressive record of 13 runs in his 4 outings in Pakistan with a highest of 8. It is certain that Kaif will be the one who will be making it to the final 11 with the other new batsman in the squad left to handle the drinks bottles. Look at it - the places of Sehwag, Draving, Sachin, Lakshman and Dhoni are fixed. Ghambir or Jaffer will take the other opening slot. That leaves the no 6 slot open which will be taken by Kaif (and the captain on the day of the match will quote "we chose Kaif for his experience" or some crap like that). Now look back at what the jokers had to say - somewhere the argument doesn't seem to sound right.