Ganguly only one to return with reputation intact

Saurav Ganguly: After an ordinary Test series, he redeemed himself in the Tri-series with quick runs at the top of the order. An inconsistent batting order in the Tests meant Ganguly was batting with the tail most of the time. His tendency to play away from the bodywas his undoing in the Tests. Come the One-Day Internationals ODI, and one saw a different Ganguly, taking on the bowling attack with utter contempt. He had two tons 8212; one each against Australia and Pakistan 8212; drawing applause from the cricketing pundits with his elegant off-side strokeplay. He was more than useful with his military medium-pace, too. One man who has come out of the tour with his reputation enhanced. If he can open in ODIs, why is he wasting himself in Tests, coming so lower down the order?

Rahul Dravid: Shane Warne had psyched him up even before the commencement of the series by saying, 8220;I have noticed a flaw in his batting8221;. The result: Dravid got so tentative, he started prodding at balls down the leg stump from the spinner and was caught bat-pad in the two innings of the 1st Test. He thus surrendered the steering wheel to his opponents. And as the series progressed, in his desperate bid to occupy the crease more and more, he forget to play his shots. He became unsure of hisoff stump and was caught behind dabbling at deliveries. His case reminds one of Sanjay Manjrekar8217;s predicament on India8217;s last tour to Australia in 1991-92. Like Manjrekar, Dravid will come home with all the negative thoughts from what has been a horrendous tour for him.

VVS Laxman: He has been playing for India for three years but is still unsure about his place in the team. As an opener, his technique is quite vulnerable as his bat comes down pretty late on the ball, sometimes from as far as third or fourth slip. An amazing counter-attack in the Sydney Test gave a ray of hope, but Laxman, asked to stay back for the ODIs, failed to get even into double figures. It might be much better to let Laxman bat in the middle order, but after such reckless show, will he be there in the series against South Africa ? He can8217;t blame anybody else, if he just fades away. A perfect case of digging one8217;s own grave!

Debang Gandhi: A heavy scorer in domestic cricket, who played reasonably well in the seriesagainst New Zealand at home, is back in India with a thud. It took just one innings in the first Test from the opening batsman to convey his lack of resources to play under such adverse conditions. Of course, he can8217;t be singled out but such woeful performance. That only underlines how badly our domestic cricket is run.

Sadagoppan Ramesh: A finger injury put him out of the series from the second Test onwards. Despite his lack of footwork, the gutsy Ramesh tried his best to tackle the rampaging Aussie quicks. India sorely missed him as his injury meant the team could not find two decent batsmen to go in first.

Hrishikesh Kanitkar: Promised a lot with a couple of essays but failed to convert them into big knocks. He was lost at the batting crease. Picked in the side as an all-rounder, Kanitkar was given very little to bowl.

To be concluded