Sourav is out, is he over too?

Memonics

The answer to this question, I must admit upfront, will not come from this column. Nor is it likely to be provided by the selectors, even though they have kept him out of the Rest of India side to play the Irani Trophy, which is ostensibly the trial match for the series against Australia, later this month.

As has been the case over the past few years, the answer lies in the head and body of Kolkata’s most famous denizen (never mind Mamata Banerjee’s few shrill days in the limelight) who must be mulling over his future in his stately house in Behala.

Ever since his (in)famous imbroglio with Greg Chappell three years ago, Sourav Ganguly’s international career has moved in fits and bursts. Just when it was believed that he had been consigned to the dump heap he has fought back, showing not just difficult-to-ignore form, but also admirable chutzpah.

A man with lesser will-power would have quit when he lost his captaincy, then his place in the team. But Ganguly’s steely resolve was in defiance of the popularly held notion that he shirked tough situations. In fact, he seemed to revel in them and instead of fizzling out, returned with a vigour that made all his critics eat their words, staging a comeback that has now become the stuff of legend in Indian cricket.

But does Sourav still have the mental strength to stage yet another fightback and regain his place in the team? Equally pertinently, does he have the physical wherewithal to back up his mind, if indeed it remains as strong as earlier? Three years of constant battle, so to speak - of trying to convince selectors, warding off the threat of juniors, fighting off frustration - can take its toll. 

When you are in your mid-20s, like say Yuvraj Singh and Rohit Sharma who have also been sidelined because of poor form in Sri Lanka, such crises can be tackled more easily because the ambition to achieve is alive and kicking and time is not such a big constraint; in the mid-30s, self-doubt and a sense of futility can begin to dominate because the end in any case seems so much nearer.

Sourav might, with some legitimacy of course, ask why he should have been the only one dropped when all four middle order stalwarts (Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman being the other three) had struggled in the last series. Not an easy question to answer, except that it perhaps hinges greatly on his fielding which the team’s think-tank reportedly believes remains below par.

But I believe that Sourav’s ouster from the Rest of India side is indicative of the thinking in the selection committee that all four established middle-order batting stars are all getting on in years — if not on the wane — and younger players need to be given more opportunities. It would be foolish to do this all at one go, so it will probably happen in phases.

That said, this is a long, tough season ahead including a series against world champions Australia. Barring a couple of players, there are few guarantees of who will still be around by next March-April. Which brings us back to square one: Sourav is out for now, but is he over too?