Ganguly Must Go !

[RajaRaja]

Sourav Ganguly has experienced yet another failure against quality fast bowling in Gwalior. But's thats no suprise , even if he had a decent score he must be told to retire or be dropped. Ganguly is selfish and egotistical , engineering his return to the Indian team through political pressure in the BCCI not big runs. I viewed carefully his domestic form before getting recalled and he did very little to merit a return. Indeed he was humiliated in English county cricket playing for Northamptonshire and then suffered a string of low scores for Bengal in late 2006. His only test centuries in the last 4 years (apart from 1 in Australia in 2003) have been against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Ganguly has not scored a 100 in ODIs for nearly 5 years. In the England series he stated that he will be playing for another 2 years at least for India :sad_smile:. He is described as a member of the Big 3 but he is no way in the same class as Tendulkar or Dravid who are all time great cricketers. If anyone deserves to be named in the Big 3 it's Anil Kumble. There is so much batting talent in India , more than any other country. Rohit Sharma is being denied a place in the side and Robin Uthappa a natural opener is batting at number 6 or 7. We need a young, hungry athlectic side to challenge Pakistan and Australia in the test series to come and for the future. Ganguly has very poor test records against these countries. The Indian team can only afford a maximum of 3 or 4 ageing senior players. Ganguly is the weakest link and there is no denying that our young talent is more than able to replace him. If I was a Pakistan or Australian bowler I would much rather bowl to him than Robin Uthappa or Yuvraj Singh. Does anyone have the guts to drop him ? Bengal will be furious but India comes first.

[bharat297]

I certainly would not drop him from the Test side as he was our best batsman last 2 test series (SAF and ENG)... it is arguable as to whether he should go from the ODI side ... but Gambhir batting at 3 doesnt fill me with a lot of confidence , and Sehwag is still looking to find his form again, and Uthappa looks comfortable in the middle order there. So if we were to drop Ganguly, who would replace him?

[fineleg]

is RajaRaja == Sandeep? Though I do agree. Time for SG to hang up his boots from ODIs and he should focus on Test cricket.

[Rohan495]

i honesty think its fair he retires his jersey in both forms of the game. if anything hes a better odi player than test player. so theres no point for him to hang around for test match cricket either, replace him with hungry man YUVRAJ

[bharat297]

Well he has been our best bat in the past 2 major test series and he played an absolute gem of a knock in his last test innings, in swinging and bouncy conditions , conditions you would usually expect Ganguly to not do so well. I would keep him in Tests. He is a real fighter who wont be scared or intimidated by the Aussies.

[RajaRaja]

RajaRaja is not Sandeep , I am totally new this forum although I signed up in July 2007. Uthappa, Gambhir or Sehwag could open - they are all genuine openers and all are long term solutions to Ganguly in ODIs. As for him being the best player in tests in the last 2 series : he did well but scoring 30s and 40s does not make you a certain selection. His methods of dismissal remain the same - bounced out , caught behind or in slips. His test record is moderate considering he does not score crucial centuries against good bowling. Can you name me a Ganguly innings that actually won India a test match ? Dravid , Laxman , Sachin and Sehwag all have many centuries against the top nations. He has 1 hundred against Pak , Aus , SA and WI combined. All those countries have mainly fast bowling based attacks. I don't see that changiing. We need a guy to score big runs at number 5 in tests. A youngster at 6 surrounded by quality batsman is ideal. Time for Yuvraj or Uthappa or even the classy Rohit Sharma to come in. I guarantee they will equal or exceed anything Ganguly can do.

[Dravid]

ganguly dosent belongin the big 3? according to your logic, then dravid shouldnt be either since he has been out of form lately.. he hasnt scored any 100s.. but has scored lots of 80s 70s...and a hell lot of 50s...and given us stability at the top,when usually with sehwag we would be 30 for 1 in 4 overs.. in tests he has been even better... best bastman in SA.. good in eng tour too.. infact he saved a test for us.. we were collasping and he came in and hit a brezzy 50.. a youngster would have choked :) btw ganguly is not known for his scoring as the other 2.. he is known for his damn good leadership skills when he was captain

[RajaRaja]

To Dravid : Having you been watching the last 2 series against Australia and Pakistan ? He has only one 50+ score ! And BTW he is cetainly not known for his fielding thats for sure and as he no longer captain his leadership skills are not required. Is his batting alone good enough to keep a promising young player out of the test and odi sides for another 1 or 2 years ? In SA I remember in the crucial Durban test he was bounced out 2 times and in the final test 2nd innings he played a typical reckless shot when we were in big trouble. His top score was 66 in 6 innings and only scored 15 more runs than Sachin overall. In Australia that might get you dropped , in India that makes you a hero ! The other 2 in the Big 3 average 55 or 56 in tests he is at 41 ! Think long term what is best for India to rebuild not what is good for Ganguly's ego or Bengal. Is he really going to improve so much at 35 years of age ? I remember Darren Lehman in 2004 offering to retire because Micheal Clarke had come through in the Aus team. Ganguly by nature is good at self preservation hence why Chappell was so keen to remove him. He has played nearly 100 test matches and scored only 13 hundreds in 11 and 1/2 years !!!! , several against weak opposition. He was a fine captain and good player for India but not a great one. Time moves on. I rest my case.

[Dravid]

SA series, u only pick out the negatives... i didnt see any1 else doing any good..ganguly was the best bastman in that series. also about rebuliding.. we tried that... failed.. and our fans dont take losing well... so had to go back to experience.. in aus seires.. again... what did dravid do? or any1 else? expect yuvi .. pak series.. we r winning, arent we?:-D its all good :P

[RajaRaja]

SA series was 1 year ago and he did OK , just OK nothing more regardless of what the others did or didn't do. You are talking like he made a string of centuries. And we still lost despite his superhuman efforts top scoring with 66. He does not score big runs , match winning runs in test matches. Does he improve the side with his poor fielding or occasional 40s and 50s ? Surely one new player could be introduced at his expense.

[Dravid]

am saying he did better then others.. didnt say it helped any... cus no1 did anything that special..expect sree in that series.. some new kid will get his chance sometime in the future... ganguly wont play fo rno 2 years... so relax...

[RajaRaja]

Brother I want to win test series and it means dropping your weakest players who are far too old. Some are old and can hack the pressure and will eventually come good with supreme performances like a Sachin or a Dravid. 2 great players. Others will just look to keep their place and their face on tv like Ganguly. If there were no other options , no talent in reserve , and he was in blistering form then sure I would say let him continue but thats not the case. A Robin or a Yuvraj or some other talent in domestic cricket could be an establised test match player in 2 years in given the chance now. I can't relax until he is gone forever.

[Dravid]

Brother I want to win test series and it means dropping your weakest players who are far too old.

oo...i didnt know we lost the test series in eng and that dada sucked real bad there.. my bad

[Guest HariSampath]

To Dravid : Having you been watching the last 2 series against Australia and Pakistan ? He has only one 50+ score ! And BTW he is cetainly not known for his fielding thats for sure and as he no longer captain his leadership skills are not required. Is his batting alone good enough to keep a promising young player out of the test and odi sides for another 1 or 2 years ? In SA I remember in the crucial Durban test he was bounced out 2 times and in the final test 2nd innings he played a typical reckless shot when we were in big trouble. His top score was 66 in 6 innings and only scored 15 more runs than Sachin overall. In Australia that might get you dropped , in India that makes you a hero ! The other 2 in the Big 3 average 55 or 56 in tests he is at 41 ! Think long term what is best for India to rebuild not what is good for Ganguly's ego or Bengal. Is he really going to improve so much at 35 years of age ? I remember Darren Lehman in 2004 offering to retire because Micheal Clarke had come through in the Aus team. Ganguly by nature is good at self preservation hence why Chappell was so keen to remove him. He has played nearly 100 test matches and scored only 13 hundreds in 11 and 1/2 years !!!! , several against weak opposition. He was a fine captain and good player for India but not a great one. Time moves on. I rest my case.

And my verdict is : Yes, you have proved your case beyond reasonable doubt and Ganguly should be dropped from the ODI side. Long overdue....here is what I had written in the other thread on Ganguly.. >>Thats because of a couple of things acting very much against him. 1. His skills , like other seniors, are not what it used to be in ODIs, and so he is finding it very difficult to deliver results. 2. There is no other spot in the batting order he can play or be accomodated as it will pull down the team interests. This puts pressure on him to retain his place purely as an opener, unlike the Gambhirs and Sehwags and Uthappas who are all openers who can play anywhere in the batting order and also bat aggressively. 3. Ganguly is more likely to play just as one half of the "old and experienced, tried and tested opening PAIR"...in other words , Sachin is largely responsible for Ganguly to hang on, and when Sachin doesn't do as well, ganguly is under more pressure. 4. Fielding. Ganguly cannot do this cricketing function<<< I personally feel he is too slow even on the odd occasion he gets a 50, and it costs us the match. He should have been dropped after that 120 ball crawl for 80 against Aus when we were chasing 300+ and it cost us the game. He is batting like that for his own reasons and not for any team interests, and so in view of his consequetive failures he must be dropped from the ODI side. He is causing team imbalance, keeping more deserving players out and forcing aggressive players down the order, and so must be dropped.

[Guest HariSampath]

Brother I want to win test series and it means dropping your weakest players who are far too old. Some are old and can hack the pressure and will eventually come good with supreme performances like a Sachin or a Dravid. 2 great players. Others will just look to keep their place and their face on tv like Ganguly. If there were no other options , no talent in reserve , and he was in blistering form then sure I would say let him continue but thats not the case. A Robin or a Yuvraj or some other talent in domestic cricket could be an establised test match player in 2 years in given the chance now. I can't relax until he is gone forever.

Exactly.... to be seen on TV as long as possible as that is their main agenda for all things commercial....so staying in the team and playing ODIs is top priority for this type, and ganguly is a prime example. Must be dropped

[RajaRaja]

Finally I'm getting some support here.:yay: HariSampath , you should be on the BCCI selection panel.:two_thumbs_up: Your points just reinforce my own. Ganguly is past his prime , should never have been recalled and will not improve India in any great measure. He is singularly the most self absorbed , selfish and arrogant player India has produced in recent times. He will never retire to help the country , so must be removed.

[Dravid]

how about u 2 get a room now :P

[King]

Ganguly should not have been recalled but since his recall he has done quite well and you will see that he is one of the ones that has scored heavily although not registering a 100. How many have churned 100s in the first place anyways? Over the last year or so I've seen the Indians play like a team with everyone chipping in with whatever they can. This in fact has contributed to victories overseas. As long as the team is winning and Ganguly is able to score runs consistently enough I see no reason for him to be dropped. It is good for him if he makes himself unavailable for ODIs though. Including Tendulkar, the seniors should take a break whenever possible to keep afresh their enthusiasm. I hope Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dhoni and the rest take a break for the last ODI.

[RajaRaja]

To Ravi : I appreciate that none of the have been scoring hundreds in recent times. However who is least likely to score you a hundred these days ? Answer : Ganguly Chipping in with these minor scores might help beat England but against Australia they won't mean much. As we just saw in the recent ODI series. When the Aussie players chip in they cash in with big scores. Ganguly has never been a prolific test player , I don't see a future for him where as Sachin and Dravid have techique and their form will come good. He really does has a malign influence and as much as I don't like much of what Greg Chappell did , trying to rid the Indian team of Ganguly and his influence was the best move. I feel sorry for someone like Viru who has a far superior record in test cricket but has little political influence. Should a talent like his be left out in favour of a guy who apart from his moderate batting contributes so little ? Why are people on this forum so against rebuliding the side ? He will never make himself unavailable thats my point , he is far too egotistical. When Dravid was dropped all we have heard is a dignified silence and 2 hundreds. When Ganguly was dropped he had meetings with Sharad Pawar. The Government of Bengal crying foul and Bengalis going mad in protests. I never once saw him come out and try to calm the situation. Go Ganguly Go !!!!

[Guest dada_rocks]

What do u mean by yet another in recent times since return this is his first mediocre performance