‘Injury elbowed Sourav out’

Sourav Ganguly could have still led the Indian team despite the recent controversies. But, say top BCCI sources, he was done in by the tenni...

Sourav Ganguly could have still led the Indian team despite the recent controversies. But, say top BCCI sources, he was done in by the tennis elbow he is suffering from — and by his own reluctance to play the Challenger series. did him in.

The review committee meeting in Mumbai last month worked out an ‘‘amicable solution’’ to put an end to the spat: Ganguly would lead the team for the Sri Lanka series but would play the Challengers to get back among the runs.

However, by stressing on his injured condition — seemingly aimed at Greg Chappell, who’d been sceptical about it — he ruled himself out of the Challengers.

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‘‘Despite his poor form with the bat, Sourav still had enough support in the Board itself’’, said a former national selector in Kolkata.

‘‘So he just needed to convince the BCCI and the selectors that he was fit enough to keep playing. Then the tennis elbow cropped up.’’

‘‘Had the latest injury not come up, the selectors would have continued with him — I know this because I was a selector too, I know the way the panel functions. Once the injury cropped up, the selectors had no choice but to go for a change. Even the Board couldn’t help it.’’

Is this the end of the road for Dada as a captain? The air of despondency at Camp Dalmiya suggested as much — the CAB president nor his aide, BCCI joint-secretary Goutam Dasgupta, were unusually silent on the issue.

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Ganguly’s next tryst with his own destiny is on Monday, in Mumbai, where he meets John Gloster and Anant Joshi.

(With inputs from K. Shrinwas Rao in Mohali)

LIFE AFTER GANGULY

		They couldn’t be more different from each other. A look at how the Dravid captaincy differs from the Ganguly regime • CRICKET CULTURE: Dravid is steeped in cricket history, reads the books, attends the seminars, devours knowledge. He’d never keep the great Steve Waugh waiting for the toss. He goes into the nuances of the game to formulate a plan, Ganguly goes by instinct • WORK ETHIC: There will be one. Dravid is the fitness role model whom the youngsters breaking into the team can look up to. Alarm bells ring for Nehra, Zaheer, Laxman, Sehwag • STRATEGY: In the few matches he’s captained, Dravid has shown his penchant for sticking to a tried and tested formula. Sometimes this leads to drift, the lack of a Plan B has shown up. Needs to get things buzzing as Ganguly did in his prime • STABILITY: He was a great player; the problem started when his form dipped and other players were pushed up and down the order like yo-yos. Dravid has stuck to the middle order, a calm and steadying influence in a match, series and career situation • DISCIPLINE: You won’t see the coach addressing a news conference alone hours before the team’s departure. Or the captain turning up very, very late in rumpled shirt and jeans. Dravid takes skippering very seriously — Sandeep Dwivedi

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