Muffled Policies Baffling!

Was Sourav Ganguly’s inclusion a preplanned affair, one involving pacts on the lines of the BCCI proposal, or was it a case of the new selectors redressing a few old wrongs?

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Certainly the most anticipated decision of the new Kris Srikkanth-led selection panel was that lingering regarding Sourav Ganguly’s selection or non-selection. But even before the selection panel had sat down to pick a team, word was that the selectors had spoken to Ganguly and reached a “compromise”. Therefore, there was little surprise when the final line up was made public when the selectors actually sat down to pick a squad for the home series against Australia.

But the decision thereafter raised a few queries for the thinking cap. Firstly, if Ganguly was considered unfit by the preceding selection panel, what is the new selection panel saying – is an unfit player worth being in the side because he has supposedly agreed to retire or were the previous selection panel wrong in their assessment? Does this mean what every one was already thinking – that Ganguly was being unfairly judged on the one series to Sri Lanka and made a scapegoat as the easiest to axe amongst the aging five?

Secondly, if this is how selections will be made hereon, if the voluntary retirement has indeed been used with Ganguly, does this mean that the team strengths will be compromised on (not talking of Ganguly alone but any player who opts for this) because a certain individual has agreed to call it quits after a tour or series? Is this accommodating one man’s needs by displacing the ultimate team strengths that could have featured a perhaps more in-form individual? If past merit is the only criteria as things stand today, what is the criteria decided in the future when anyone other than the top five decide to call it a day? Who decides?

Thirdly, have the selectors relented because they could not find one worthy of replacing Ganguly or was this a case of a genuine sense of seeing the merit in experience? Were they pandering to the senior players (though cannot imagine why) or merely saying – we want to give him one more chance?

It is yet to be confirmed that Ganguly took the retirement bait. But it is either a bold move by the selectors to judge Ganguly over his comeback numbers or a hand out from the BCCI by employing the shoddy scheme to get rid of the seniors when they do not want to come out and show guts in calling on a player to say “you’ve had enough; it’s someone else’s turn.”

For Sourav Ganguly's statistics since coming back or of the team composition for the series against Australia or for what triggered this debate, let more on:

Choosing When the Axe Must Fall

Ganguly - Leading the Line, out of the Irani Trophy

Selection for Indo-Australia: Going Forward Backwards?

Srikkanth and Co Face first Blind Date

Irani Trophy – Shining for Selection

Sachin Will Not Play Irani Trophy tie: Injury Bogs Him Down Again!

Australia Can do without Symonds; Can India without Ganguly?