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King, who keeps a tab on the fitness of Indian team, apparently believed that Ganguly's lower half could give him trouble before long and this went a long way in sealing the fate of the pugnacious left-hander.
The selectors -- Dilip Vengsarkar and Co. – including Ranjib Biswal and Venkatapathy Raju on the present tour -- were keen to have Ganguly retained as late as on the second day of the Perth Test last week.
They even toyed with the idea of recalling Rahul Dravid, basing their argument that Rohit Sharma and Robin Uthappa had not done much of note in the domestic circuit lately.
Dhoni though had different ideas and informed the selectors that it did not serve much purpose to include a player who could break down at some stage of the ODI tour.
The argument against Ganguly also included the points that he was not of much use either in the outfield or infield and his fitness really became an issue after 40 overs.
Vengsarkar, it is learnt, made a pointed reference about the runs which Ganguly still provides to the team.
It met with the counter that the young Indian ODI captain did not believe the pitches in Australia would really be all that quick. More so since his lads had shown themselves to be quite capable of holding their ground on the overtly helpful pitch of Kingsmead, Durban, during the Twenty20 World Cup last September.
The logic of a Twenty20 game being different from a proper ODI match did not quite pass the mustard.
Vengsarkar, finding himself at a loss, apparently asked for a rethink on the fourth day of the Perth Test. This time Dhoni was accompanied in the teleconference by his deputy Yuvraj Singh.
Yuvraj, apparently did not disagree that Ganguly was still useful for the runs he makes at the crease but he felt the fielding ability of the Bengal left-hander was a major issue.
It, therefore, became a foregone conclusion that Ganguly would not be needed in the ODI series. It became the task of Biswal to break the news to Ganguly. Biswal initially told India's Test captain Anil Kumble about the impending move.
The latter on his part nudged Biswal to break the news to Ganguly. The word from the Indian dressing room suggested that Ganguly's fitness was an issue even during the ODI series against Pakistan at home.
It did not become a fully blown issue because of the tremendous form Ganguly exhibited at home, striking a double hundred, a century and a near one to top 500 runs against Pakistan last year.
Apparently, Ganguly was conscious of being nudged out of the team and had spoken to selectors about at least affording him a big ODI series in Australia.
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Ratingindia will loose ths series without ganguly ..i bet
Ganguly's ommission from ODI sqad is a blunder and the manner in which it is done is a shame. BCCI and selectors have gone freaking mad!! How can people like Dhoni and Yuvraj talk like this about Ganguly, one of our greats. Yuvraj has been utter failure in Aus and should have been dropped. Dhoni still has a lot to prove as a player. I think he has been made ODI captain in a hurry. Given his current form he should be fighting for his place in Test sqad! It is just a dirty trick to cement their places in the ODI side by hook or by crook, as they would have never been able to outplace Dada in terms of performance.
i agree completely - i couldn't have put it better!!
"Yuvi" of all people raising question of fitness! Yuvrah Subg's left knee is gone - he was done in by the horrible Greg Chappell - and he is wearing calipers. His right knee also seems to have got into trouble. For his own good, Yuvi should take a few months off and get proper SURGERY done on his left knee.
Dhoni is commenting about Ganguly's fielding!!! He should be more concerned the way he kept wickets and missed simple catches against Pakistan. His batting against Australia is also below standard. We are talking of giving younger generation a chance? What did Yuvraj do? He has failed in 3 consecutive tests including the one against pakistan. What happened to Jaffer in Australia? And Dhoni is talking about australian picthes!!! How many times did he play in Australia before this tour? And frankly Indian fielding is way behind Australia or South Africa, whether you take youngsters or not. And they were so concerned about fielding and good batting, what happened to Kaif? He is still the best fielder in India. Winning a 20-20 is very much different from winning an ODI game . Hope Dhoni understands the difference between these two soon.
Why saurav has always been subjected to injustice -just because he is from bengal not mumbai ?shame on us! Secondly if a player is in form and is also fit to play -why not include him irrespective of age .Saurav was the man of the series in last ODI with PAk ( 2 months back).If the age is criteria then why not axe Sachin too? It is all politics .Injustice has been done to Saurav throughout his career ! But only due to God's grace ,Saurav has emerged winner irrespective all bad and dirty politics . Another question what happens to young players who can't play even for 2-3 hours in test matches ? Will they be dropped ? Should they remain as a liability in the team because of their young age along with out of form and no contribution. Isn't it a liability ?
I am very big fan of Ganguly but I am even bigger fan of Indian Cricket.I think the selectors and Dhoni have made a bold but right Decision to include Youngsters.Ganguly is not as good as new players on the field and beween the wickets.And in Aus u r not going to get many boundaries with huge grounds and in ODI matches we need lot of flare and young blood.Remeber What Ganguly did when he became captain, he brought in lot young blood into the side. The Likes of Yuvi and Kaif.We have to believe in young indian players like Rohit Sharma (Next Dravid), Uthappa (Great courage and flare)and throw them the toughest challange. Finally I would bak the Indian Team for the ODIs.
this is a huge misconception-being young doesn't automatically mean one is going to be an excellent ODI player - and its too early to start dubbing likes of rohit sharma as dravid etc - they have a LONG way to go.and they should benefit from playing with saurav et al.i back the indian team too, but i wish them some sense too!constructive criticism does help!!
Whatever is said about Ganguly is true for Sachin too! Where are they going to hide him in the field? Then again, I forgot. Sachin is from Mumbai and so are Vengsarkar and BCCI president Powar! Makes a lot of sense now!!!!
Dude.....Sachin is still one of the strongest arm.... No comparison between Sachin the GOD and Saurav.
Sachin is still one of the best fielders india has. It wouldn't have matter a bit if he is from timbaktu. Dada is a liability on the field but i would still want him/dravid to be in the team.
Without an in-form batsman like Sourav Ganguly in the side, Dhoni is perhaps expecting the likes of Joginder Sharma and Piyush Chawla to shine with the bat. The rest are of course there to throw themselves mercilessly (albeit uselessly) at every ball that thunders past them into the boundary. Hope the young brigade is carrying enough balm to apply on the bruises that follow. But who or what can help them counter the flak that follows when they loose the one day series...Dhoni thinks that at present India has the Aussies on the mat and the same effect will continue into the one dayers. But then the Aussies rarely spend much time on the mat. Their reply to Sydney and Perth will not be any short of annihilation. Dhoni had better get big ideas to go with his eminently big mouth soon.
It is a pity that the caste, povincialism and selfish interests are taking roots into the selection process of the suitable cricketers for the formation of Team India for the forthcoming ODI against Australia. Sourav Ganguly,s case fits ino this argument. While alongwith Sourav Ganguly, Dravid and laxman have also been rested for the ODIs, yet a lot of uproar and push and pull is being exerted in favour of inclusion of Ganguly into Team India. To keep up the sanctity of the sports and games in our county, all sorts of politics entailing narrow provincialism, casteism and community feelings should be shunned to maintain good sportsman spirit.
Can say good decision that Ganguly
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