I am back after a well-deserved break...:P Thanks to a certain Salmonella Typhae(read 'Typhoid'). And to be honest, it's real tough to be offline.. :D Last 10 days or so in Dharwad, I was completely cut out from all things that could help me be 'online'.. So, while I swallowed innumerable pills and drank syrups like water, lying down on the sofa, all I could do is watch TV, which surprisingly I do the least when I am in Bangalore. And to add to my woes, I had no clue as to what programs on the TV were good and when they aired. So, all I did was change channels, stall on one of them for a minute or so, and then start changing again. Thankfully, I had Star Cricket for company. So, I started watching all sorts of cricket matches that were being shown on that channel. Highlights of Classics, recent SA - England one dayers, Natwest Pro 40 County matches, Best Innings, Harsha Unplugged and Champions of the World (Quiz show).

Before I start writing, let me make my stance very clear :

1. I am not against bringing in youngsters into the Indian Team.

2. I do not support sacking senior players of the team without adequate and reasonable explanation.

On Monday I think,news was out about Dada being left out of the Rest of India Team that will play the Irani Trophy test match against Delhi later this month. Simultaneously, Sachin is declared fit for playing in the Irani Trophy match.

One of the selection committee members said in an interview to a website -- " We think that the senior players have received the message. 'Perform or Perish' is what we are looking at and we have made it pretty clear by dropping Sourav from the Irani Trophy team" ( Luckily for him, the website kept him anonymous on his request)..

When one of the press guys asked Niranjan Shah "Sourav Ganguly's name is not there in the team announced for Irani Trophy. Do you think that you have left him out by mistake??", all he could do was chuckle and walk away from the cameras. I mean, what the hell.. How short is the memory of the Selection Committee? Dada failed in the Sri Lankan test Series. So, is that a relevant enough reason to keep him out of the side? Sachin also scored the same amount of runs as Dada in the series. Why is he in the team then? Lets look at the stats of the recently concluded test series for the fabulous 4.

Ok.. Laxman and Dravid might be saved due to the odd 50 or so.. But is this table a good enough reason to keep Dada out of the side?

I happened to read this article on some website the other day.

"Why Ganguly, and why not Rahul Dravid or V V S Laxman? Laxman has the best record among the Fab Four in recent times, including the series against Sri Lanka. Dravid bats at the crucial one-down position in Tests and is a safe slip catcher. Ganguly is an embarrassment on the field and his bowling has declined over the years. Tendulkar is Tendulkar, he will time his exit, period. A phased exit of seniors will help the team management to build a new Test side without causing commotion."

Now what crap this is.. Nobody else to, so Ganguly.. Is that the policy??

The aforementioned 'anonymous' dut-head in the selection committee believes "We can't afford to do too many changes to the future side as we are yet to discover players who can fit in the shoes of the likes of Dravid or Laxman or Tendulkar. But at the same time, we have a bunch of talented upcoming youngsters like Raina, Rohit and Badrinath (for god's sake! Badri has played only 3 ODIs!) who need more exposure." So, which class does Dada fall into? Do we group him with the Odoyos, the Obuyas etc?? Before the Sri Lankan series, Sourav Ganguly was the Indian batsman with the best batting stats in tests for the last 12 months(1000 odd runs with an average around 44). His comeback after the Greg Chappell saga is counted as one of the best comebacks in the history of the game.

Coach Gary Kirsten says " Its your performance in the last 2-3 months that governs your selection in the team and not past laurels.. We had to get over this and its time to look beyond Sourav". Going by this rule, every player who has not performed well in the Sri Lankan series has to be kicked out of the team. Is the selection committee ready to do that? Why do we respect Tendulkar so much? Because his achievements speak for him. Same is the case with all the greats of the game. Ganguly is no different. A man with a combined 18000 runs to his name deserves more respect and credit.

The BCCI says they will give the senior players, 6 test matches to play on which their performance will be measured and further decisions on whether to retain the person in the team or not will be taken based on it. Looks like its curtains for Dada's career because the test side which will play Australia will be more or less the team that plays in the Irani Trophy.

The selection committee is due for a revamp after another week or two and I pray to god that there be more brains on the panel that respect the game and the players than a bunch of hypocrites and losers.

A player of such class, caliber deserves a more befitting farewell from the game that he has loved all his life and given it everything he has in the last 13-14 years. 

**A salute to the Royal Bengal Tiger**.