Dada deserves Better

The team for the ODI tri-series against Australia and Srilanka was announced today. The major talking point is the omission of Sourav Ganguly, arguably the one Indian batsman in the best of form. The selectors have as usual cited 'fielding' and 'future' as the reasons for the axing. A third f which was 'form' was also used when Dravid was axed but that was not applicable in this case.

The selection exhibited a complete lack of brains in the selection committee. Some articles are suggesting rumours that the selections were forced by the Indian ODI captain. The Indian selectors always seem to go from total lack of support to too much support for the captain. The selections also showcased a lack of understanding of the process of transition. Just throwing inexperienced players into the middle might work in T20 but is really not going to be effective in longer forms of the game. A young player has to be slowly eased into International cricket and there is no better way of doing that than by having experienced pros around the dressing room who can help the young kid.

This series was a wonderful opportunity for the selectors to do just that. This is possibly the longest ODI tri-series with lots of matches in the group stages. The best thing for the selectors to do would have been to rotate both the seniors and the young players so that all of them got the opportunity to play and more importantly win some matches during this time. The selectors always seem to be going from the past to the future without ever thinking about the present.

This is how the Indian batting card is going to read: Sachin Gambhir Sehwag Yuvraj Raina Robin Dhoni. There is no sense of stability in that middle order. Each of these players with the exception of Sachin are highly inconsistent. Yuvraj might have been pretty consistent in the last year but the form that he is in right now and his 'mental disintegration' that the Aussies have managed suggested that a solid batting option was required. You look at the options available on the bench and you see Rohit and DK, hardly people who inspire confidence. So folks, here is a batting disaster waiting to happen!!

Sourav Ganguly is definitely in the form of his life, batting better than he has ever done. Besides his bowling might have also proved helpful on the Aussie wickets. To drop a player like that is totally unjustified and if the selectors want Dravid and Ganguly to retire from ODI cricket then they must be given the choice of going out on their own terms. They have certainly served Indian cricket enough to be given a grand stage to end their glittering ODI careers.