Ganguly's inclusion a mistake

Akays tour diaries

The first test between India and SriLanka was a dissappointment not just because of three-and-a-half days of heavy downpour, but also because the Indian team-management got bogged down under pressure to include former captain Saurav Ganguly in the line-up. It was clear that public pressure had alot to do with this inclusion, as many cricket-lovers in India are avid supporters of the once dashing left-hander.

Over the years, his game has fallen from grace quite spectacularly. For one of the leading one-day scorers in the game, Ganguly's apparent nervousness at the crease in recent times is just very sad. He needed more time outside international cricket then he got. He needed more time to play at a consistently high level before being re-inducted into the test roster.

His place was given to Yuvraj Singh, who looks like he's finally understood his role in the team and is maturing into a really useful bat. He has tempered his stroke-play a tad, doesn't fish outside his off-stump as often, and plays more ground strokes now then ever before, and all these signs can only be good news for Indian fans. As a result, he had a highly successful ODI series against South Africa and was infact adjudjed player-of-the-series for his consistent scores. But what does he get for that? A no-confidence vote for the tests. Go figure that out....

© Adeel Khan