Hope for Zak, despair for Dada

CHENNAI: As expected, former skipper Sourav Ganguly failed to find himself in favour with the new panel of national selectors after a below-par showing in the Challenger Series. National Selection Committee chairman Dilip Vengsarkar, while announcing on Wednesday a strong 14-man Rest of India squad, that will take on Uttar Pradesh at Nagpur from October 9, made it clear that he and and the other selectors were firmly of the view that the Bengal left-hander, needs to do more with the bat to stake a claim for an Indian berth.

“He (Ganguly) has not been scoring runs of late. He has not been in great form, to be honest with you,” said Vengsarkar, after chairing his maiden selection meeting. Ganguly scored 24 and 3 in the two games.

One ‘leftie’ whose comeback bid did receive a big boost was left-arm fast bowler Zaheer Khan, who was included in the squad, which will be led by Mumbai opener Wasim Jaffer. Zaheer celebrated his inclusion by dismissing Sachin Tendulkar for a duck and clocking speeds upto 139.5 kmph in Wednesday’s final against India Blue.
Is there some light at the end of what looks like a long, dark, tunnel for Ganguly?

“Yes,” assures Vengsarkar. “Hum kisi ke liye darwaza band nahi karte. Those who perform well, will get a look-in. The committee has an open mind. Ganguly still has opportunities. There are the Duleep Trophy games.”

Vengsarkar said: “Everyone was picked on the strength of their current form and fitness.” Ganguly’s next challenge is on October 19, when East Zone would begin their Duleep Trophy campaign against Central Zone. The selectors aren’t happy with the form of Irfan Pathan. “He (Pathan) has to improve himself definitely,” said Vengsarkar who did not agree that is it time to take him more as a batsman than as a bowler? “Not really. He is an all-rounder.”

Laxmipathy Balaji and Ashish Nehra didn’t enjoy Zaheer’s luck, and rightly so. Both have looked flat. VVS Laxman wasn’t considered because he didn’t play here, but given the Hyderabadi’s class, its diffcult to imagine that as a danger signal for the stylish batsman.

Rest of India: Wasim Jaffer (capt), Venugopala Rao (vice-capt), Robin Uthappa, S Badrinath, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik (wk), VRV Singh, Sreesanth, Zaheer Khan, Murali Kartik, Pragyan Ojha, Rohit Sharma, Sourashish Lahiri, V Yo Mahesh.

He checks out at 4 am

After a forgettable trip to Chennai, where he did little to boost his chances to come back into the national side, Sourav Ganguly was in no mood to talk to the press.

Ganguly left at 4 am on Wednesday, and even refused to talk to some of the television journalists who were camping at his hotel all night to ‘catch’ him. Ganguly’s team lost its second consecutive game to crash out of the Challenger Series on Tuesday, and the left-hander, having failed both times, didn’t even bother to wait for the announcement for the Rest of India squad for the Irani Cup. It was cruel on many of reporters, for whom the major objective on this trip was getting Ganguly to talk. Perhaps, Ganguly now believes in letting his bat talk.

They say...

“He (Ganguly) has not been scoring runs of late. He has not been in great form, to be honest with you. Hum kisi ke liye darwaza band nahi karte. Those who perform well, will get a look-in. The committee has an open mind. Ganguly still has opportunities. There are the Duleep Trophy games, and other domestic matches on which his form will be assessed.” — Dilip Vengsarkar, chairman of selectors

It’s not the end of the road for him. He still has a few domestic matches, including the Duleep Trophy, to look forward to. — Lalchand Rajput, India Red coach

Let’s put it this way. The road to comeback has become longer for him —Krishnamachari Srikkanth, commentator