[MC Mayank]

Pathetic selection. Ganguly has been batting almost as good as he has ever batted in the last 6-8 months. Dravid should have been there in the 15 at least.

If you have to blood youngsters, do it thru A tours. Give them wickets in India. Not thru a critical ODI series with India's biggest rivals.

[normally_crazy]

Originally Posted by MC Mayank

If you have to blood youngsters, do it thru A tours. Give them wickets in India. Not thru a critical ODI series with India's biggest rivals.

Why is this line being repeated ? Why not blood them where it counts ? Why protect them and ask them to play in conditions favouring them ? Why not push them in at crucial junctures ?

Lets at least give them a chance !

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

Why is this line being repeated ? Why not blood them where it counts ? Why protect them and ask them to play in conditions favouring them ? Why not push them in at crucial junctures ?

Lets at least give them a chance !

Agreed. Zaheer and Yuvi passed this test in Nairobi and are now the backbones.

[diabloo]

The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB)'s joint secretary Samar Pal said that. It is his personal opinion that "Dhoni is more comfortable with juniors so he is in favour of axing seniors".

BTW, CAB described Ganguly's sacking as "grave injustice" and said it would lodge a strong protest to BCCI.
'Dhoni didn't want Ganguly'

Instead of such idle talk, CAB should produce more quality cricketers from Bengal.

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

Please do not believe everything that is stated in the media. Rediff now says that Dhoni did not want Ganguly.

[snaronikar]

@ NC & Diabloo: Lets wait and see what happens. But one thing is certain we need to teach those monkeys a lesson and with this team don't think it may be possible. These players are good for big hitting games (like T20). What matters is they should play the complete 50 overs and I sincerely hope they do it.

[pmbabu]

Originally Posted by MC Mayank

Pathetic selection. Ganguly has been batting almost as good as he has ever batted in the last 6-8 months. Dravid should have been there in the 15 at least.

I am not too sure about Ganguly on that aspect. While some zip has returned to his batting, his average over the past few months has been around mid 20's - it's low notwithstanding the position that he plays in.

Also, I think the selectors are easing out the older generation slowly - Dravid was first dropped (because it was the least risk decision in terms of unnecessary controversies) and Ganguly now for the Australian tour. By doing this, we are not just grooming the next generation, we are also extending the validity period of our older legs in the longer version of the game.

To all those who are against blooding youngsters now, is not the T20 success good enough proof? I feel it is a selection worth its experiment; if we succeed, great (remember our T20 WC win was in SA, not in sub continent) and if not, well, we possibly will know if the lot is worth to bet again with or not.

EDIT: No sooner did I submit that post, Sambit Bal posts this on Cricinfo. It's worth a complete read: Cricinfo - Heavy on youth, light on experience

And this part though must be quoted, so here you go:

Of course, the best way to find this out is to plunge them into the challenge. Having bitten the bullet, the selectors must show strength and resilience to stick by their vision. If they have chosen a team for the future, they must not abandon it on the basis of immediate results. Quite likely this team will lose and perhaps lose badly. But if the selectors consider this to be the nucleus of the team that will represent India at the next World Cup, they must allow them to grow and learn from their failure. Otherwise, it will be going neither here or there.

[normally_crazy]

Originally Posted by diabloo

"Dhoni is more comfortable with juniors so he is in favour of axing seniors".
'Dhoni didn't want Ganguly'

I wonder why Dhoni wants Yuvraj in the team (after all he grabbed a fair lady from under Dhoni's nose)

Instead of such idle talk, CAB should produce more quality cricketers from Bengal.

I agree - the last 2-3 matches in the Ranji Trophy , the Bengal team didn't even reach 150 frequently

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

I agree - the last 2-3 matches in the Ranji Trophy , the Bengal team didn't even reach 100 frequently (once they failed in both innings I think)

Thats because they lost the core of their side to the ICL

[rsjaurr]

Originally Posted by rks

I think Gambhir, like Jaffer, will have a tough time at the highest level while murdering anything at a lower level.

these two are the perfect examples of typical Indian batsmen who thrive on Indian conditions but cant do much on foreign condition.Thats why Jaffer and Gambhir will never be able to cement their places in test teams though later can do relatively well in shorter versions of the game.


I also completely agree with "bunch of jokers" for a change.Excellent decision by all of them to have faith in yoing blood and especially now our cricketer's confidence so high,they will perform in Australia.

Ganguly after his comeback has performed ok but he really hasn't set the stage on fire in contrast to other comeback men e.g. Hayden so its time to hand over the responsibility to young blood,more so when probably most of these will tour Australia after about 3-4yrs and this experience will come handy for them.

[rks]

Look at the outstanding peformance of Pathan, man-of-the-match in the Perth Test. Mark Taylor, while giving him the award, asked him: "You were doing so well in Test matches and then suddenly you disappeared. Where *were* you?" And then finally to Pathan: "Welcome back". Very clearly Taylor took a dim view of what happened. But Pathan was a victim of our dirty politics, at a time when the seniors were struggling to hold on to their places in the team. As Ian Chappell mentioned during the Perth Test, "Pathan has already seen off four batsmen (Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly) and is batting as well as anybody has in this match". But our selectors never considered his great potential as a genuine all-rounder; I hope that has now changed.

As I have stated many times, it was a major blunder to have left out Pathan on the English tour where the conditions would have been ideal for his seam bowling. Nasser Hussain asked during the England tour: "You are a nation of one billion people. Why aren't you able to find any promising young cricketers?". And also "Once a cricketer passes the age of 35, he should be judged purely on current performance, as he no longer has any future potential". Obviously Nasser also took a dim view of our selection policies. Note that Nasser is the guy who, while as England captain, selflessly retired to make way for Andrew Strauss immediately after scoring a century in a Test match.

Our seniors should stop playing politics and stop trying to destabilize the careers of younger players in the side. They have had long and successful careers; now is the time to step down and help the younger players to establish themselves. I hope Ganguly condemns the actions of CAB and also of his fans, who apparently burnt effigies of Sharad Pawar.

[snaronikar]

@ pmbabu: Till what time we will tolerate this loses with this young team is a big question to be answered. We cannot bet on this team and keep on looking at them loosing match after match when they can't even bat out 50 overs. Then will be compared with Bangadesh & Zimbabwe which nobody will like.

[normally_crazy]

I also agree with the views on Gambhir. He actually hasn't come across as a very consistent batsman. And they way he plays outside his off stump - he will be in a spot of bother in Australia.

Manoj Tiwary is one batsman whom I regard very highly. Have seen him bat in a couple of Challengers and Ranji Trophy matches - but till he is not thrown into the deep end , how will I really understand how good a player he is ?

Younger players will develop if and when they get a chance. And I feel Oz land is the best place to test them out.

[MC Mayank]

In answer to everyone who has been commenting on Ganguly's current form. Have you folks been watching cricket on a different planet in the last one year?

Cricket Controversies had a very good discussion today on Ganguly's exclusion. Speaking of performance, incidentally Ganguly has had a better average than Gambhir, Sehwag and your T20 hero Uthappa in the series against Aus and pak.

I have nothing against young cricketers. It would be the perfect thing for Indian cricket if they made half of the opportunities that they have been given in the recent past. And we are not talking twenty twenty here. Take them to Australia and groom them under the watchful eyes of the seniors. Not by the baptism by fire technique that the BCCI seems to be so happy about.

If you had to remove Ganguly, there should be a clear cricketing reason. You can't remove a player who is playing at the peak of his abilities! Its the most amazing trick that these bunch of clowns could have pulled!
If there was some player absolutely banging on the selection door, calling hoarse for Ganguly's exclusion, it would have made sense. You have removed Ganguly, but to get in who? Who is taking his place and promising to perform at the same level? Ask the Aussie players and media who would they rather like playing against - Ganguly or Raina?

And fielding.. bhai waah, guys are you trying to tell me that Ganguly's fielding has deteriorated? You got to be kidding me. He was always a pathetic fielder and still is. Nothing has changed. So whats the reason to drop him? In fact, he is looking fitter than he ever has and you really can't expect fielding to change at this age. What he doesn't deliver in the field, he makes up for in his bowling and his vast experience. Gambhir/Raina might make a few dives and save 3/4 boundaries, but you still can't stop the Aussies from getting runs off them in the outfield. Their throwing arms are still pathetic. Gangul's crucial wicket taking abilities were all to evident in the series against Aus and Pak.
After the 20-20, Gambhir and Uthappa have done absolutely nothing in the opportunities they have been given.

We are talking about a phase in Indian cricket that many of us only dreamt of - that of having the Aussies on the mat in their own backyard. Thats happened and the time calls for keeping them there. But the selection panel has taken their personal vendetta to another level altogether by making such a vulgar selection decision. Its high time they were made answerable for their decisions. In a time for celebration, they have opened yet another crack that would only open out a fissure that would swallow Indian cricket yet again.

[MC Mayank]

[quote=pmbabu;695098]I am not too sure about Ganguly on that aspect. While some zip has returned to his batting, his average over the past few months has been around mid 20's - it's low notwithstanding the position that he plays in.

quote]

His average in the last one year is better than his career average. If you go dig the figures I am sure you would discover its not in the paltry twenties.

[MC Mayank]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Agreed. Zaheer and Yuvi passed this test in Nairobi and are now the backbones.

Yuvraj is a backbone? OK he has performed well in the last one year. He is in brilliant form. Chalo lets call him a backbone.
Lets come to Ganguly. He has been in tremendous form in the last year. And he has roughly 6 yrs of international cricket experience over Yuvraj. Plus he has captained India to a world cup final and a drawn test series in Australia. Naah, guess Ganguly is not a backbone.