Does Ganguly merit a place in Indian test side as a batsman alone?

[ajaagarkarajaaja]

If he is axed as a captain then do you think he will be able to find a place in Indian test side???

Unlike some Indians who hates Ganguly, i have respect for him as he has done alot for Indian team as a skipper.But i can clearly see that there are other batsmen in India who are better than Ganguly and deserve a place in test side.

 

[Langeveldt]

On class - yes
On form - nope...

 

[Sanz]

Yes - He is better than Laxman, Yuvraj, Sehwag & the other dude who opens with him. Sehwag scores big in one inning and then fails in 10. Laxman play only against Australia, Chopra can make a century even if Boycott's mum was bowling and Yuvraj is too new to replace a performer like Gangs.

 

[Langeveldt]

I know Vinod Kambli wont play again for India... but surely he would be one hot on the heels... and Sriram...

 

[V Reddy]

But who would captain the side if Ganguly is not there? The captaincy seems to affecting Dravid . So Ganguly should be in for me.

 

[Sehwag309]

On class - yes
On form - nope...

Well Said 8D

 

[Deja moo]

Laxman, Tendulkar , Dravid ,Kumble have experience of captaining the national/ state teams .........

A year ago, Tendulkar did make the controversial statement that he wasnt averse to having another go at the captaincy.

 

[tooextracool]

Laxman, Tendulkar , Dravid ,Kumble have experience of captaining the national/ state teams .........

A year ago, Tendulkar did make the controversial statement that he wasnt averse to having another go at the captaincy.

that doesnt make any of them good captains does it?people can go on criticising ganguly's captaincy but the fact is hes the best man for that position amongst the entire indian squad.

 

[iamdavid]

Id still say he probably warrants a place in the side....but only just , not that he's been in poor form but just that the competition for places in the Indian lineup is so hot ATM.

Will certainly be tough to drop Yuvraj now after his hundred , but the fact that the captaincy appears to be having a negative effect on Dravid's batting guarantees Ganguly will be recalled , they'll either drop Yuvraj , or drop Chorpa & have him Yuvraj open.
Both will result in an outcry & I wouldnt agree with either desicion.

However the only other conceivable options would be opening with Parthiv & Sehwag , while Yuvraj bats at 7 , or leaving Ganguly out.....cant see either happening.

 

[age_master]

Yes - He is better than Laxman, Yuvraj, Sehwag & the other dude who opens with him.

no, definatley not, no and yes

 

[age_master]

Id still say he probably warrants a place in the side....but only just , not that he's been in poor form but just that the competition for places in the Indian lineup is so hot ATM.

Will certainly be tough to drop Yuvraj now after his hundred , but the fact that the captaincy appears to be having a negative effect on Dravid's batting guarantees Ganguly will be recalled , they'll either drop Yuvraj , or drop Chorpa & have him Yuvraj open.
Both will result in an outcry & I wouldnt agree with either desicion.

However the only other conceivable options would be opening with Parthiv & Sehwag , while Yuvraj bats at 7 , or leaving Ganguly out.....cant see either happening.

why cant Ganguly open... he has plenty of experience opening in the ODI's.. different in tests ofcourse, but im makes a hell of a statement to the oposition and would sureley be better than Yuvraj opening atm...

 

[iamdavid]

why cant Ganguly open... he has plenty of experience opening in the ODI's.. different in tests ofcourse, but im makes a hell of a statement to the oposition and would sureley be better than Yuvraj opening atm...

Isnt completely out of the equation , but they will want a long term opening option & it would also send the message that Ganguly was only opening while they waited for one of the middle order to stuff up sufficiently to be dropped , creating a spot for him to slot back in the middle.

There is also the short ball thing & the way he just pushes with an open face at balls which bounce & swing away outside off , now with two of the three fastest bowlers in the world bowling to him he'd wanna be pretty sound technically.
Id question whether he's got the patience to open at test level aswell.

Yuvraj has a better allround technique than Ganguly & for that reason Id open with him ahead of the skipper , despite his lack of experience up the order.

 

[Craig]

Yes - He is better than Laxman

Most definatly not.

 

[tooextracool]

Yuvraj has a better allround technique than Ganguly & for that reason Id open with him ahead of the skipper , despite his lack of experience up the order.

IMO sachin should open the batting....hes got it all doesnt he?technique,patience,experience(in odis), ability to play all shots in the book. i know some ppl will say you cant have ur best batsman opening but the fact is he isnt ur best batsman anymore(dravid is) and if he does struggle then you can always put him back at no 4. its a question of doing whats best for your team and from the 194 incident i dont think he plays for his team.(wonders how many angry responses hes gonna get for this). besides sachin and sehwag opening in test matches will be a treat to watch

 

[Shane Warne]

Yes he does, Ganguly is quality.

 

[marc71178]

Seeing as the likelihood of him being sacked is zero, isn't this thread a tad irrelevant?

 

[indianreligion]

Seeing as the likelihood of him being sacked is zero, isn't this thread a tad irrelevant?

a bit...yes

everybody knows that he won't be sacked from captaincy, or dropped from the side...but if he is, it's going to hurt his pride and he's going to come back with a bang...he's got class
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it's more tough down here in calcutta than anywhere else to show respect for ganguly...though there are a few sourav fans...u hav the old ones who can't stand him ("oh! in our times nobody dared to speak like the foul mouthed ......, did u here wat he said....and anyways, a captain should save the team by batting well, and he!" *a series of stupid, hehehehehehe*)

the aussies beat us in the 2nd final...some ppl down here actually blamed it on saurav's batting!!!

 

[Arjun]

What difference does it make?

What difference does it make? If 3 world class batsmen- Tendulkar, Laxman and Dravid, fail to get runs, how can a struggler in recent times get any more runs? That is Saurav's status at present. He's had problems against quality pace and a disastrous end to the tour of Australia has resulted in the lack of 50+ scores in Pakistan.

As for the captaincy, Dravid has done a good job as a captain. There's no point blaming him for that. Everything was going as it normally does under him, and also a little better under his slightly more innovative methods than under Saurav's tense, stubborn captaincy, which is why the team would just fall apart anmd never recover in recent times. As for captaincy getting to Dravid, how many matches has he played as captain? Look at Saurav's average, if it is good, it's because of the number of matches played. He needs time to settle as captain.

About the likelihood of not getting sacked- this has to go. Look at Bevan. Who would sack him, with that ODI average of over 50? The Australian selectors, that's who. I'm not asking for an instant chop/change, but there should be no permanent places in the team. Not even for 'living legends'.

 

[Raj123]

besides sachin and sehwag opening in test matches will be a treat to watch

dont hold your breadth coz it aint gonna happen.

its a question of doing whats best for your team and from the 194 incident i dont think he plays for his team

dont mean to be rude but thats a tad foolish.

coming back to the topic gangs averages 42 playing away(including 1 against bangla, 3 against zim@19) . and this is much lesser than what it was before being a captain so i'd say he warrants a place.

 

[Lions81]

Re: What difference does it make?

As for the captaincy, Dravid has done a good job as a captain. There's no point blaming him for that.

!!! I disagree!

He's captained three test matches, and gone 1-1-1, which isn't that bad really. Except he couldn't beat New Zealand at home (admittedly it was a placid track), and idiotically chose to bat first at Lahore. At Multan, he was lucky that Sehwag decided that the time was right to go insane, as Dravid himself added nothing to the score at all. Forget the declaration with Sachin on 194, I think it's just desserts for the past years when the team's chased records for Sachin instead of chasing victories. When you put 675 on the board, it's not that difficult to win. (Although Ganguly managed to screw that up in Sydney, but Australia are better than Pakistan.) Also Dravid's batting has been horrible as captain! I don't think Dravid should really captain again. Maybe Laxman would be a suitable second to Ganguly.