Ganguly included in tests

[Jono]

2. So if Ganguly has to find a place, we have to drop two out of three middle order batsmen in Laxman, Yuvraj and Kaif !!

No Jono, it wont be just dropping either Yuvraj or Kaif (if not Laxman) it will have to be both (or one of them plus Laxman) !!

Yep, 100% correct. Technically Kaif and Yuvraj are fighting for the same place. Ganguly's previous spot. Yuvraj was temporarily in for Tendulkar during his injury. Now that Ganguly is in that squad all three are fighting over the one spot. Surely Laxman isn't in danger. I mean come on that'd be going too far.

Also just mentioning other choices in the squad, what does everyone think about Dhoni being selected ahead of Dinesh Karthik? (Not Murali Kartik the spin bowler, people are confusing their names a bit too much ) Do people think it was the right move? Was it inevitable considering Dhoni's ODI performances?

 

[adharcric]

Yep, 100% correct. Technically Kaif and Yuvraj are fighting for the same place. Ganguly's previous spot. Yuvraj was temporarily in for Tendulkar during his injury. Now that Ganguly is in that squad all three are fighting over the one spot. Surely Laxman isn't in danger. I mean come on that'd be going too far.

Also just mentioning other choices in the squad, what does everyone think about Dhoni being selected ahead of Dinesh Karthik? (Not Murali Kartik the spin bowler, people are confusing their names a bit too much ) Do people think it was the right move? Was it inevitable considering Dhoni's ODI performances?

Dinesh Karthik is still very much in the scheme of things. Dhoni's recent performances have been so great that this test selection is rather expected, but the way selection has been going (perhaps barring ganguly), he won't be handed anything, he'll have to prove himself in the test arena as well.

The interesting thing about this crap with Ganguly being selected as a batting all-rounder is that he took 4 wickets today versus Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy match, what's going on here, Ganguly got so desperate that he discovered some bowling talent within himself?

 

[chaminda_00]

OMG how can someone averaging 50 with the ball in Tests be classified as a all rounder?

 

[SJS]

In India, in the entire sub continent for that matter, we are brought up on a diet half truths, partial truths and complete lies by those in authority viz politicians and others in power.

The reason they do so is because
- they think a large enough majority doesnt know the facts anyway.
- they believe that if they repeat a lie enough times, people always tend to believe it
- they have great faith in the power of the media to thrive on these fibs and lend credibility to them by the sheer act of not questioning their veracity

The proclamation of Ganguly as an all rounder, bowling or batting, is another such attempt which would have worked but for the fact that the protagonist is currently public enemy number one except in his home state, amongst his fellow Bengalis and amongst some sections of the media who need to use him either as the villain or as the victim (depending upon who the reigning villain of the hour is)

This bowling/batting all rounder has the following claim to this title.

In the last thirty test matches that he has played for his country (as captain mind you) he has bowled as under

INNINGS..OVERS...MDNS.....RUNS...WKTS....AVERAGE....STRK RATE

59............91...........23............. 298...........2.............149...........273

A bowler who bowls 9 balls per innings when HE HAS TO DECIDE who will bowl, has the audacity to call himself an allrounder ,bowling or batting be damned and the selectors want the paying public to absorb this fraud meant to deny a deserving player like Laxman, Kaif or Yuvraj a place in the side because they are not thus classified !!!!

My blood boils.

By the way we have another all rounder in the team who may have escaped the selectors attention who is sure to play the tests anyway.

In his last 30 matches, this "all rounder" has bowled 209 overs to Ganguly's 91, taken six times as many wickets, for a bowling average that is less than half of our celeberated Bong-Bandhu and a strike rate of 104 against his(erstwhile) skipper's monumental 271 !!!

His name is Sachin Tendulkar and though no great all rounder, one has heard the comment off and on that he should be bowled more in test matches than he is. Well, if he is bowling two and a half times the 'all rounders' in the team, Sachin and his supporters cant complain can they ??

Ganguly has been called one of India's best captains ever, many say THE BEST. It would be interesting to see if Dravid has learnt something from this 'great' captain when he was his understudy and whether he will continue to give his all rounder his staple diet of 9.25 balls per innings to bowl !!

 

[shaka]

Apparently Ganguly is India's version of A.Symonds then.

The thing is he ignored himself as a bowler for so long while he was captain and suddenly started bowling in FC cricket after the Chappell-Ganguly crisis. And he made a statement that he is bowling well taking 14-15 wickets when he had taken fewer (which some one on the forum pointed out).

Problem with that comparison is that Symonds can field brilliantly and score very quickly

 

[Pratters]

Problem with that comparison is that Symonds can field brilliantly and score very quickly

I was being sarcastic.

 

[Pratters]

Ganguly as a bowler last 5 years:

(6 ball overs)       Mat    O       R   W   BBI    BBM     Ave  Econ    SR  5 10

unfiltered            84  393.2  1312  25  3/28   3/37   52.48  3.33  94.4  0  0
filtered              52  200.5   684   6  2/69   2/90  114.00  3.40 200.8  0  0


Series         Win   Mat    O       R   W   BBI    BBM     Ave  Econ    SR 5w 10

Border-Gavaskar Trophy (Aus/Ind) in Australia, 1999/00 [Series]
               Aus     1   12      46   1  1/46   1/46   46.00  3.83  72.0  0  0
South Africa in India, 1999/00 [Series]
                SA     2    6      18   0   -      -       -    3.00    -   0  0
India in Bangladesh, 2000/01 [Series]
               Ind     1    0       0   0   -      -       -     -      -   0  0
Zimbabwe in India, 2000/01 [Series]
               Ind     2    9      29   0   -      -       -    3.22    -   0  0
Border-Gavaskar Trophy (Aus/Ind) in India, 2000/01 [Series]
               Ind     3   17.2    65   1  1/44   1/46   65.00  3.75 104.0  0  0
India in Zimbabwe, 2001 [Series]
                 -     2    1       3   0   -      -       -    3.00    -   0  0
India in Sri Lanka, 2001 [Series]
                SL     3   39.3   134   2  2/69   2/90   67.00  3.39 118.5  0  0
India in South Africa, 2001/02 [Series]
                SA     2    7      38   0   -      -       -    5.42    -   0  0
England in India, 2001/02 [Series]
               Ind     3   16      51   0   -      -       -    3.18    -   0  0
Zimbabwe in India, 2001/02 [Series]
               Ind     2    0       0   0   -      -       -     -      -   0  0
India in West Indies, 2001/02 [Series]
                WI     5   29      67   0   -      -       -    2.31    -   0  0
India in England, 2002 [Series]
                 -     4   12      64   0   -      -       -    5.33    -   0  0
West Indies in India, 2002/03 [Series]
               Ind     3    0       0   0   -      -       -     -      -   0  0
India in New Zealand, 2002/03 [Series]
                NZ     2    2      11   0   -      -       -    5.50    -   0  0
New Zealand in India, 2003/04 [Series]
                 -     1    0       0   0   -      -       -     -      -   0  0
Border-Gavaskar Trophy (Aus/Ind) in Australia, 2003/04 [Series]
                 -     4    2       8   0   -      -       -    4.00    -   0  0
India in Pakistan, 2003/04 [Series]
               Ind     1    6      27   0   -      -       -    4.50    -   0  0
Border-Gavaskar Trophy (Aus/Ind) in India, 2004/05 [Series]
               Aus     2    3       2   0   -      -       -    0.66    -   0  0
South Africa in India, 2004/05 [Series]
               Ind     2   21      59   2  1/14   1/14   29.50  2.80  63.0  0  0
India in Bangladesh, 2004/05 [Series]
               Ind     2    4      16   0   -      -       -    4.00    -   0  0
Pakistan in India, 2004/05 [Series]
                 -     3    8      28   0   -      -       -    3.50    -   0  0
India in Zimbabwe, 2005/06 [Series]
               Ind     2    6      18   0   -      -       -    3.00    -   0  0

Less than 4 overs per test and strike rate and economy rate for every one to see.

 

[Jono]

By the way we have another all rounder in the team who may have escaped the selectors attention who is sure to play the tests anyway.

In his last 30 matches, this "all rounder" has bowled 209 overs to Ganguly's 91, taken six times as many wickets, for a bowling average that is less than half of our celeberated Bong-Bandhu and a strike rate of 104 against his(erstwhile) skipper's monumental 271 !!!

His name is Sachin Tendulkar and though no great all rounder, one has heard the comment off and on that he should be bowled more in test matches than he is. Well, if he is bowling two and a half times the 'all rounders' in the team, Sachin and his supporters cant complain can they ??

A little off topic, but Sachin's bowling (obviously he is far from an allrounder, so don't someone (looking at you Sanz) use this as a way of starting the "Everyone thinks Sachin can do no wrong" rhetoric) has come in handy many times in tests. I remember him taking vital wickets in two of India's biggest test wins in recent times. The Kolkata test against Australia in 2001, and the Adelaide test against Australia in 2004. I believe he may have removed Steve Waugh and Martyn in Adelaide, and I distinctly recall him bowling a fantastic wrong'un to Warne in the Kolkata test to get him out.

Ganguly's bowling was very useful in ODIs a few years ago. I don't recall any such incidents in tests however.

 

[SJS]

Adding Insult to Injury to Farce

Kiran More, the chairman of selectors, added that Zaheer Khan missed out because Ganguly would provide a bowling option.

- cricinfo​

"We discussed several names," said More. "RP Singh has done well in the one-dayers and we have found a few young bowlers who are promising. If they perform well in domestic cricket, they will definitely get opportunities. We missed out on Zaheer Khan also. He's performed outstandingly in domestic cricket and it was a tough call to leave him out. Also, we consider Ganguly as an allrounder, that's why Zaheer Khan has missed out."

 

[Jono]

Its so blatantly obvious that he's full of crap. No one around the world considers Ganguly an allrounder. Not now, and not even a few years ago when his bowling was used more often.

Lies, lies and more lies.

 

[SJS]

Some more More speak !!

"This gives more comfort to the team balance. We had to leave out Zaheer Khan although it was a tough call to make. Ganguly was taken as a batting all-rounder instead of having Zaheer who is a bowler,"

"It is not a shift on the part of the selection committee, it is the decision of all the five people, we also discussed the performance of every other player and not only Ganguly's. Ganguly has served the country well," he said.

"There was no pressure at all. It's a separate committee and all decisions are taken only by selectors. I appeal to the media to refrain from indulging in such statements for the good of the game."

Asked if all the members of the panel agreed on having Ganguly as an all rounder in the team, he said, "we can't say what was discussed at the meeting. We have our arguments but that is between us."

 

[Pratters]

The guys in Telegraph Calcutta really irritate me with their Ganguly bias. www.telegraphindia.com

Maybe they should read this article http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/india/content/story/226957.html and shut up. But of course they wont.

 

[Jono]

Given that he's no Jonty Rhodes in the field, we can safely assume that Ganguly wasn't selected for 12th-man duty. But by saying that he was selected as a batting allrounder, Kiran More has only ensured that his panel will be the butt of most cricketing jokes for some time to come.

Already started.

 

[SJS]

He seems to have read my posts here !!

Ganguly's inclusion suggests that he is certain to play the first Test at Chennai, which means that both Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif will miss out. With Sachin Tendulkar back in the fray, the top four are locked in, leaving just two middle-order spots up for grabs. Since his breakthrough series against Australia in 2001, VVS Laxman has comfortably outperformed Ganguly - averaging 51.17 to his former captain's 36.23 - leaving the team management to pick one from Ganguly, Yuvraj and Kaif.

Given that he's no Jonty Rhodes in the field, we can safely assume that Ganguly wasn't selected for 12th-man duty. But by saying that he was selected as a batting allrounder, Kiran More has only ensured that his panel will be the butt of most cricketing jokes for some time to come. Ganguly has taken 25 wickets in his 84 Tests, and prior to taking two in two matches against South Africa last year, his last wicket had been way back in 2001, when he finished with figures of 2 for 69 at Kandy.

To tag him an allrounder is almost as farcical as considering Mike Tyson a heavyweight contender.

Dileep Premachandran in cricinfo​

 

[Pratters]

It was obvious - a similar situation like faced by India in tests earlier as I mentioned.

 

[adharcric]

sucks for ganguly, expectations are even higher for him now after this stupid selection. not only will he have to bat better than kaif and yuvraj, but he will have to take a few sri lankan wickets as well to maintain his 'all-rounder' status. good luck sourav ...

 

[adharcric]

i'm actually glad ganguly is back in the test team. if he doesnt perform, his blind supporters will have to shut up because he was given a chance over the in-form kaif and yuvraj and zaheer (who isnt an all-rounder like ganguly). if he does perform, well that's always a good thing.

 

[adharcric]

damn guys, ganguly is proving his all-rounder status, 5 wicket haul in the ranji match vs. maharashtra.

 

[SJS]

i'm actually glad ganguly is back in the test team. if he doesnt perform, his blind supporters will have to shut up because he was given a chance over the in-form kaif and yuvraj and zaheer (who isnt an all-rounder like ganguly). if he does perform, well that's always a good thing.

That's a very positive way of looking at it except that...

if he fails AND we lose narrowly, it would have been a very expensive way to shut up his fans and his backers in BCCI wont be bothered anyways ....

 

[SJS]

damn guys, ganguly is proving his all-rounder status, 5 wicket haul in the ranji match vs. maharashtra.

It doesnt prove his all round ability as much as the standards in domestic cricket once the stars are away.

Has Ganguly suddenly discovered a doosra, teesra or chautha ?? If not, why was he hiding his 'talents' as a bowler from the world ? Is this the stuff great captains are made of ?

If he under bowled himself it can mean only one of two things
- either he did not believe in his own bowling prowess
- or he was so secure as regards his place in the side, he did not wish to try something (even if the team needed it) which may call his abilities to question

Either way, he is damned for yesterday !

And what are going to be the instructions to the captain - Dravid ? Bowl your new all rounder ? If he doesnt because he doesnt believe Ganguly has it in him, he will be condemned for not giving Ganguly the role he was selected for. If he does and Ganguly gets slaughtered, he suffers as captain.

Either way he is damned for tomorrow !