Getting Ganguly in

Is it a coincidence that Sourav Ganguly was selected as an additional and 16th player in the Indian cricket team for the tri-series in Sri L...

Is it a coincidence that Sourav Ganguly was selected as an additional and 16th player in the Indian cricket team for the tri-series in Sri Lanka even as he arrived back home a day prior to the arbitration verdict announced by Justice Albie Sachs from London on the six-ODI ban 8216;Ganguly keeps his options open8217;, IE, July 30? One feels it is not.

If one analyses the events of the last week or so, the suspicion gets stronger that both the BCCI in general, and Jagmohan Dalmiya in particular, were desperate to include the 8216;Prince of Kolkata8217; for the tri-series.

What was the necessity for the chairman of selectors, Kiran More, to talk to Ganguly at Cardiff, Glamorgan, on the phone for two hours last Tuesday, when the latter was playing in the English county circuit? Was More consoling him over the loss of his captaincy to Rahul Dravid? Why did the BCCI have a word with the selectors before the ICC arbitrator was to hear the matter, prior to the team selection?

On the day of the selection, Ganguly was not eligible to be included in the team. It was therefore extremely improper and highly objectionable on the part of the BCCI to have acted in such a hasty manner. It only shows that BCCI was hell-bent on retaining Ganguly in the side, even if only as an 8216;additional player8217;.

ICC rules ought to have the provision of filing an appeal over a ban subject to specific timeframe. This 8216;limitation period8217; would have ensured that the manipulating tactics the BCCI resorted to 8212; simply to ensure one particular player8217;s recall to the side 8212; could not have been done.

Does anyone remember what happened to Javagal Srinath, who was drafted into the Indian cricket team four seasons ago in the final match of the 8216;Asia Cup8217; when he was flown in on the day of the day-nighter? The Karnataka speedster was not only clobbered by the Sri Lankan batsmen, but his magnanimity in giving wides and no balls, enabled the home team to post a strong total and India lost the game by a huge margin.

Heavens would not have fallen had Ganguly been rested for the tri-series, especially when one participant team of it 8212; the West Indies 8212; is virtually a 8216;B8217; grade team! Such hasty inclusions with total disregard of the rules of the game and general ethics, have always turned out to be counter productive.

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The Ganguly episode also indicates how the BCCI affairs are still run by Dalmiya. Its incumbent president, Ranbir Singh, is just a showpiece!

The writer is an advocate of the Bombay High Court