The most frequent bit of advice offered to Sourav Ganguly when he was forced to sit out of the last two one-dayers against Pakistan following the ICC’s six-match ban was to take some time off.Ganguly thought otherwise and has opted instead to play for Glamorgan and bat himself back into form.The English county side has announced signing up the Indian skipper for a two-month stint this season as their second overseas player. Ganguly will take guard against Sussex on June 1.The Indian skipper’s elder brother Snehashish told The Indian Express that Ganguly has been contemplating for quite some time now before deciding to sign up for Glamorgan. ‘‘Sourav insisted that he needed match practice, and not a break, to get back to form. The stint with the county side will give Sourav the right scope to get back among runs through constant match practice, and that’s what he wants most.’’A member of the Indian team backs the argument. ‘‘It’s an excellent decision for the captain. Ganguly’s is a classical case of an experienced player who needs to bat his way out of form, not back out.’’While his critics have said that he badly needs a break before the trip to Sri Lanka, the team member pointed out that a lot of international cricket is round the corner. ‘‘It will be a huge mistake if the out-of-form captain stays out of serious action. The timing of his decision has been appropriate as well, now that he’s already had a short break after the home series against Pakistan’’, the member told this paper.The stint with Glamorgan, which will last till mid-August, will work in Ganguly’s favour revolving around two key areas: match practice and absence of pressure. The next two months are packed for Glamorgan and that should be good news for Ganguly, who is eagerly looking forward to playing a good amount of cricket before the next season starts.The other key factor, and perhaps the most pivotal one, is the fact that Ganguly after all won’t be under that tremendous pressure of having to deliver in front of an intimidating home crowd. ‘‘Playing for Glamorgan is way different from playing for India’’, he explains.Robert Croft, the Glamorgan captain is excited about Ganguly’s arrival: ‘‘This is great news for the club and comes at a good time. We’ve had a difficult start to the season and although we felt it was important to look at some of the younger players in the early matches. We wanted to sign someone who not only has a proven track record but who will be looked up to in the dressing room. Sourav will be a great asset to the team and we’re looking forward to playing with him.’’Another member of the team stated that representing the country, responsibilities of captaincy, the pressure of consistent performance, pressure from the home crowd added up and got the better of him. ‘‘When he goes out to bat for Glamorgan, suddenly all that pressure of home crowd, captaincy and performance for the country disappear. It’s all about what goes on inside his mind; it’s got lesser to do with his technique. Once he gets this clear and puts up two good knocks in England, he’ll rediscover the lost touch - India need him at his best in the next six months’’, he says.BCCI cluelessThe Glamorgan authorities may have pompously announced Sourav Ganguly as their overseas player for the new season but the BCCI is yet to receive any intimation from the Indian skipper. The BCCI president, Ranbir Singh Mahendra expressed his displeasure over the news. “I didn’t get intimation from Ganguly regarding this. I don’t know if this deal with Glamorgan took place, he didn’t take any permission from the Board’’, he told this paper.BCCI joint secretary Gautam Dasgupta, too, confirmed today that he hasn’t had any news at all from Ganguly over this matter. The Board’s secretary, SK Nair, too expressed surprise over the news, saying: “I don’t have any such information or news, so I really can’t comment.” — ENS
