Selectors sweat over Ganguly inclusion

Kiran More, chairman of selectors, put on a practice shirt and got his hands dirty in the nets at Mohali ahead of the second one-day international. He did not quite pad up to bat, but even that might be easier than the task he has ahead of him. On Friday the five-man national selection panel will meet, and at the end of the match announce the squad for the next three matches of this series. The question before them is simple - to pick Sourav Ganguly or not? The answer, however, has far-reaching implications.

Ganguly, who missed the first two one-dayers because of a mild tennis-elbow injury, proved his fitness with a fighting hundred in East Zone's Duleep Trophy match against North Zone. But does that make him an automatic choice in the squad? There are many things the selectors have to consider. First among them is the fact that Ganguly has been one of India's greatest ever limited-overs batsmen over the years, with a bagful of runs and a clutch of centuries to his name. But the many points of contention against Ganguly - fitness, his influence on the team, his fielding - will not be erased by a century in domestic cricket. Add to this his miserable form in the current year - 187 runs from 12 one-dayers, an average of 17 - and you can begin to understand why the selectors have a tricky decision on their hands.

If they do not pick Ganguly, it sends out a strong signal reposing faith in Rahul Dravid, Greg Chappell and their vision for Indian cricket through to the 2007 World Cup. It also sends a signal to Ganguly that his days of playing one-day cricket are over. A year ago Sourav Ganguly's would have been the first name pencilled in when naming an Indian eleven for a limited-overs match. But things surely have changed. Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar form a settled opening pair, while Rahul Dravid, along with Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh, the two most consistent batsmen this year, seal the middle-order slots. India's decision to play Mahendra Singh Dhoni at No. 6, and Jai P Yadav as the allrounder at seven, has meant that they no longer play seven batsmen.

What will give Ganguly a ray of hope is the fact that Kaif has not yet recovered completely from a hamstring injury. Kaif was at Mohali on the eve of the second one-dayer, and trained with the squad, running laps around the ground and having a knock in the nets. However, only two weeks of the three weeks' rest he was recommended by John Gloster, the physiotherapist, have been completed, and his fitness will again be reviewed only on November 3, which rules him out of the next three matches. Had Kaif been fit, and proved his form in a domestic game, he would have been a sure shot to replace Venugopala Rao, rendering it next to impossible for Ganguly to be guaranteed a place in the playing eleven even if picked in the squad.

For now, though, it would in a way be unfair to drop Rao. He did not even bat in the last match India played, and has not yet enjoyed a consistent enough run in the team to be a clear-cut case for being dropped. So, if Ganguly has to play, India will have to drop either one bowler or an allrounder, something they have been reluctant to do in the recent past. Whichever way they go, this will be toughest decision this selection panel has had to take. And you can be sure they will come in for strong criticism no matter what they choose, for Ganguly has always evoked the most passionate response from fans, positive or otherwise.