Dada: Set for a relaunch

He is tipped to join the Test squad in South Africa, even as Irfan Pathan’s form comes under the scanner; Selection committee meeting shifted to Delhi with Pawar wanting to meet them before the Test squad is decided

MUMBAI: A torn anterior cruciate ligament of the knee, an avulsion fracture of a right thumb, weak hearts and a general breakdown seem to have paved the way for Sourav Ganguly’s comeback to the Indian team.

Earlier, the injury to Rahul Dravid’s thumb saw the inclusion of the experienced VVS Laxman in the one-day fold after more than a year. With Yuvraj Singh’s knee still on the mend and the young Indian middle-order crumbling, Ganguly’s experience of 88 Tests and 279 one-dayers will  now come into reckoning.

Of greater significance will be the manner in which he led Bengal to a win against Punjab in their Ranji Trophy match, scoring 43 in the second innings on a juicy wicket and also taking five wickets. He also bowled 34 overs to complete his role as an all-rounder.

Ganguly’s 118 against North Zone in the Duleep Trophy at Guwahati will add to the brownie points. The indications got stronger through Wednesday when, by afternoon, Ganguly had made it clear that he would step aside to make way for Deep Dasgupta to lead Bengal against Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy game starting on Friday.

Meanwhile, Irfan Pathan whose form with both the bat and ball has hit a low in recent times is also going to be under the scanner. Pathan did not feature in the second one-dayer at Durban and then looked out of sorts in Cape Town. Also tipped to return home after the one-dayers is Suresh Raina, who has not scored a fifty in his last 15 games.

BCCI President Sharad Pawar has insisted on meeting Dilip Vengsarkar’s team of selectors before the Test squad is picked and hence the venue of the selection committee meeting was shifted to Delhi from Mumbai on Wednesday.

Also discussed will be Tamil Nadu skipper and middle-order mainstay S Badrinath who had a great first class season last year, second only to Mumbai’s Amol Muzumdar. He also scored two hundreds and three fifties. However, not all the selectors are in favour of giving the youngster a baptism by fire.

Incidentally, if Ganguly makes the cut, it will be with the unofficial rider that he will play the first Test at Johannesburg starting on December 15, says a Board source. 

The last time Ganguly was chosen to play for India, it was as a bowling all-rounder. If picked now, the selectors won’t have to come up with such a bizarre description. The team’s form card should explain his inclusion.