Dropping Ganguly is a two-sided story - head or heart

New Delhi: Look at the brighter side. Being axed from the One-Day side may well spur Sourav Ganguly to score a big one at Adelaide. Maybe even Rahul Dravid.

The Ganguly debate is quite a head or heart situation. The cricket romantic will always back Ganguly, for the runs he has scored, the strength of character he has shown to come back, or just for the fact that he is the man who brought to Indian cricket the whole philosophy of giving it back with interest, especially to the Australians.

On batting form, Ganguly stays. He provides certain solidity to the top order, and as an opener with Sachin Tendulkar, he has made merry frequently. So by any stretch of imagination, Dilip Vengsarkar and BCCI cannot quote that as a reason, irrespective of whether Ganguly got runs at Perth or not. Few have played the limited-overs format of the game better than him.

But while Ganguly has been solid as a batsman, I doubt if even the most ardent supporter will blindly say that he is a perfect choice when it comes to fielding, or even running between the wickets.

The jargon now is “youth”. Face it; it had to come, sooner or later. Younger players can be expected to run faster and field better, but whether they will be able to actually go out and score runs when required is a million-dollar question. At the same time, it would be naïve to expect the veterans to go on unendingly, so a call had to be taken. That it came in such a high-profile series is just bad planning.