Do you support Ganguly, Dravid being dropped?

[Arjun]

Here's my take on this issue: In the last year (and further back) in which they all played, the team was getting nothing out of it. They were not winning. Tournaments once again got out of reach. After the World Cup, they were on a downslide. This move of dropping them wouldn't hurt much, then, so this would be a good time to invest in good prospects, and should be put to good use, as it is now. The selectors have put together a good combination for this series.

 

[Richard]

Have you not seen him field? Ganguly is awful by all standards.

He's not the best and there aren't many worse, but equally he could and has been even worse in the past than he is currently. It's rare these days to see him make simple misfields.

 

[Arjun]

There have been too many liabilities on the field in this Indian team. That's weighed them down against every other team- the champions, the challengers and even minnows. We've seen the exit of Munaf, Powar, Laxman, Kumble (he stepped out on his own), VRV Singh, Dinesh Mongia and few others from the past, while some (including Kumble) have stepped up on the field. They all had to adapt or leave.

 

[Richard]

Thing is, those batsmen\bowlers have veered between sheer woeful and half-decent. Laxman, Munaf (so far) and Powar (so far) have been no more than OK performers; Mongia and VRV Singh are both shockingly poor and it never failed to mystify me how the former played such an obscene number of ODIs and the latter ever got near the international level. Kumble hadn't been a good ODI bowler for years and years when he finally retired.

Ganguly is far, far better at his primary role than any of these aforementioned. So is Dravid.

 

[Manee]

It's rare these days to see him make simple misfields.

In the Perth Test, he misfielded a ball trickling to him.

 

[Richard]

Well I didn't say it never happened did I, but that was the first instance of the type I can remember for aaaages.

 

[jeevan]

Who will be the player that will be selected in his place Jeevan?

Ganguly's best value to the Indian ODI team was/is being one half of the Tendulkar-Ganguly opening pair. So, I expect Sehwag to 'replace' him and I hope Sehwag continues to prove people like me wrong (was not too happy with him being the squad for Australia, bad call in retrospect).

Given that Sehwag was in the ODI squad (as was Gambhir) technically Raina replaced him but is not a 1:1 swap.

 

[jeevan]

216 runs in his last eight innings.

And Sehwag, who replaces him as opener (I hope, probably much better choice than Gambhir or Uthappa), had 234 in the last 8 innings. And in Sehwag's case, of these 8 matches - 2 were against BD and 3 against an Africa XI side that did not have Pollock, Ntini,Steyn,Nel, or Kallis in the bowling lineup.

 

[Richard]

It truly will be ridiculous if Sehwag replaces Ganguly. Sehwag should have been dropped from ODIs for good a fair while ago.

Sehwag will never, ever be a patch on the player Ganguly was and is in the one-day game.

 

[Captain Cricket]

Just to throw in a stat here...Sehwag has an average of about 24 against Australia.

But does history really matter if we see Virender improving? He would make a dangerous ODI player. I say replace him with one of the dropped players for at least one match out of the god knows how many and see how he does. Strike-rate means a lot in ODI's.

 

[Richard]

Sehwag averages sod-all in ODIs in any position against any opposition since about 2003. It's utterly ridiculous that he played on and on and on in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, not being dropped until 2007. Plain madness.

Only in 2002 has he ever done anything of much note in ODIs. He's only played because of the "OMG! Strokeplayer, must be good ODI player!" nonsense we see so often.

 

[Captain Cricket]

You reckon Karthik will play?

 

[Richard]

In ODIs? God no!!!!!! He's even worse than Sehwag!

Uthappa has to open IMO, and obviously of those picked it'll be Tendulkar who he opens with.

Ideally I'd like Ganguly and Uthappa. Failing that, Ganguly and Tendulkar.

 

[Captain Cricket]

Read the thread title and make another opening partnership.

 

[Richard]

As I said - of those picked in this squad, I'd have Uthappa and Tendulkar without a backward glance.

Depressing that Gambhir remains.

 

[haroon510]

i believe Dravid and Kallis shouldn't be even close a one day side.. so i am for dropping Dravid..
what i didn't get here is why they dropped Dada.. the fact that he has been doing really well lately is totally ignored and not to forget that one day is his game.. he is far more dominant in one day than test..

 

[Manee]

And Sehwag, who replaces him as opener (I hope, probably much better choice than Gambhir or Uthappa), had 234 in the last 8 innings. And in Sehwag's case, of these 8 matches - 2 were against BD and 3 against an Africa XI side that did not have Pollock, Ntini,Steyn,Nel, or Kallis in the bowling lineup.

I never once said that I thought that Sehwag was the right replacement for Ganguly.

 

[Laurrz]

i think its a great decision beause they do have a lot of talented young batsmen (Karthik Gambhir Uthappa etc.)

 

[Perm]

No, it's piss-weak.

 

[social]

I actually think that Dravid has a heap more to offer than Ganguly.

The latter is on borrowed time in all forms of the game (and is simply a massive liability in the field in any event) whilst it may actually do Dravid some good to go out and play a few shots