adharcric said:
indeed it is. how is ganguly picking up so many wickets in domestic cricket nowadays? i'm praying he has somehow turned into a real all-rounder, this would be interesting to watch.
To be fair, he is a decent line and length bowler. Swings the ball in if conditions are slightly overcast. Generally bowls in the 'corridor'. His lack of speed can be a bit of a problem if there is no movement. An enterprising batsman can come out and keep depositing him over the boundaries and it is worse than being a spinner due to the lack of a loop of flight.
He is very much like Mohinder Amarnath was during his later years. Surely Ganguly should have bowled more for India in the past and forgetting all the fun we, me included, are making of him today, he could have been more successful if he had taken his bowling more seriously. But he didn't. He was happy that his place in the side was assured due to his captaincy and his batting. Today for him to bring his rusty disused bowling out of the cupboard and hold it aloft as a certificate for him to be included in the team stinks of dishonesty.
As far as wickets in domestic cricket are concerned, they are not always from great bowling. Maharashtra could have been bowled out for a miserably low score but for some slogging by tailenders.
If we have to go by bowling in domestic cricket then Zaheer should have been first choice since he has been outstanding this season.
Further on domestic performance but for that one century, Ganguly's domestic performance with the bat has been atrocioius. Would someone care to go through the figures ? When faced with the first decent bowler of the season, Zaheer himself, in Duleep Trophy, Ganguly bagged a pair in the match.
Its interesting how his past international record is used to support his claim in batting and his current domestic record to support his claim in bowling. This kind of decipt is what bugs me.
The selectors should have had the guts to say that inspite of Ganguly's indifferent form of recent times in international cricket, we feel a player of his calibre cant be ignored in the longer version of the game considering Yuvraj and Kaif are relatively inexperienced in this format. I would have thought that, some people may have disagreed but there would have been a case and I am okay with that.
To include Ganguly at the expense of Kaif and Yuvraj appears unfair but it would not have raised eyebrows, six months back. Thats not a very long period in a cricketers career. I think we should accept his inclusion purely as a batsman. Tomorrow, Tendulkar or Dravid may face similar situation.
BUT there is no need to reinvent himself
NOR does his selection be made the be all of team selection. This way rahul is being put under un-necessary pressure and I would like to see if he will use his prerogative and drop him as he seems inclined to.