I agree it is not in good taste to drop Sourav, But Mr. Wadekar statement all that you have done over the years is not practical. Even if a great cricketer is not performing we need to drop him. I feel it is time we get out of the habit of carrying the demon gods of cricket even if they are not performing. It is taxing on the team. Dont you remember in the past with these greats at the helm we carried Ravi Sastry for years, Vikram Rathod of early 90s. The one thing that should matter is if a player is performing we need to have him. Else they can get back to domestic cricket & get into the groove. Though I dont encourage the move, to the credit of Wasim Jaffer, he did well as a opener in Ranji. Since both the Indian openers are not doing well it makes sense to have him in. In the first place we need to understand we are talking about INDIA not an individual. Kaif is sitting out. Understand this he is the captain in waiting. Think beyond individual worship at least now. We all like Sourav but not at the cost of countries pride. So Mr Wadekar let every one understand team is picked on current performance not on past record.
There was a small group of protesters in Boston in early 2001, who were protesting for building a very good statue or a monument to remember the War heroes of America and one of the placards they were holding read.
"A country's greatness is seen not in the people they develop but in the people they honour"
Winston Churchill so categorically said, "The people get the Govt they deserve".
When the great poet Subramanya Bharathi died there were not more than 9 or 10 people in his funeral procession and Srinivasa Ramanujan the great mathematician almost got lost here until Thomas Hardy discovered him. We seem to forget our great people often enough. Ganguly is not in the same league but Iam just driving home the point that history repeats itself and we forget our heroes.
I was in Boston in 2001 and that Boston Card and Winston Churchill's words came to my mind as I read the news that the Selection Committee has decided to drop Ganguly from the test team for the third test match in Ahmedabad.
As Arjuna Ranatunga righty pointed out we need to respect our heroes. If we continue this trend soon we may not produce many of them.
I am bit confused with the statements given by Mr. Wadekar.
I agree with him about what Ganguly did for INDIA. In second test Ganguly performance was not bad at all keeping in mind about the pressure what he was having in his mind of getting axed. I still think instead of excluding Ganguly from third test selectors should have given him one more chance to prove his metal.
But I am not at all convinced with Mr. Wadekar statement of asking Ganguly to take retirement from all sorts of cricket. Being a senior cricketer of INDIAN cricket he should provide his positive suggestions to the players instead of asking them to quit. Quitting is not a solution for anything. I still feel that Ganguly is still a better player, only thing is the time is not with him. I prefer Ganguly to prove himself by playing extremly well in domestic cricket & just concentrate on game instead of worrying about selection politics.
My best whishes is there with Ganguly & wish he continues with all sorts of cricket. He should prove all the critics wrong.
I support GANGULY this time. The selectors has done wrong by not including him in the TEST at ahmedabad. Ganguly did well in the test. He scored farely well in both innings. And more over you cannot exclude a player who has played 300+ matches for the country.
First time when he was excluded that was fair enough as he was not doing well.
This has been history in indian cricket. All the laurels of the country are treated like this. KAPIL DEV, PRABHAKAR, AJAY JADEJA etc...
RE:EXCLUSION '' SHOCKING''
by ashish on Dec 17, 2005 12:01 AM
Was Wadekar joking??. Tendulkar should be careful??? Mr.Wadekar, u need a break . Tendulkar wont reach that stage. Eventhough hes out of form , he makes 30 40 runs . Probably more than what you averaged in your whole career. Ashish
This is truly shocking. I mean, if you are being dropped even after performing it definitely means that there is not an impartial disposition. And it is not about Sachin or Ganguly, about Mumbai or Bengal it is about legendary Indian players. Until now I had reserved my judgement about the intentions of the selectors and the coach but after this incident I don't think there is any doubt that the people who are responsible for 'who stays and who doesn't' are plagued by dirty politics. I don't know about Ganguly or Tendulkar but these people surely don't need to be where they are.
"You cannot replace a middle order batsman with an opener. It has never happened in the history of Indian cricket." - Wadekar.
Anyone who follows the cricket can judge why Wasim Jaffer was taken....
Also the board officials have clarified the change. The middle order will be handled by Yuvraj....and Wasim Jaffer was taken to replace Gautam gambhir.....
Anyway the treatment given to Ganguly was totally unfair. He should not have been dropped in the middle of the series.
This is an INSULT....he was taken in the test series & he performed quite satisfactorily (40 & 39)...what did the BCCI expect??? For what reason did the BCCI take him again in test series? Did the BCCI expect ganguly to hit double centuries in both the innings???
THIS IS SURELY AN INSULT.
This is mere politics.....ranatunga was right. Indians must learn to respect their heroes.
I don't have the opinion that ganguly must be still there in the team as there are batsmen who plays better. BUT BCCI must not have treated him like this....this is totally UNFAIR.
