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Journalism of Courage
Kanpur sleeps early. And so, not unexpectedly, many were unaware of Wednesday8217;s late-night news that the ICC had accepted Sourav Ganguly8217;s appeal against his six-match ban 8212; or the corollary, that he was eligible to play tomorrow.
Thursday morning, which broke calm and sunny, turned into a storm once this news sunk in. And the confusion persisted right until late afternoon. Given the fact that an appeal automatically restores a player8217;s eligibility, and appeals are usually entertained, the BCCI should have had its strategy on Ganguly8217;s playing sorted out when the appeal was filed.
Rahul Dravid8217;s noontime press conference didn8217;t clear the air. 8216;8216;Even we the team have no information on Sourav8217;8217;, he said helpfully, 8216;8216;the team will remain focussed on their task and are not thinking about it.8217;8217; That led reporters to the next obvious task: checking flight details and passenger lists. No luck there either.
Meanwhile, BCCI president Ranbir Singh Mahendra offered his input: Sourav cannot join because he8217;s not been named in the squad. Indeed, and his place had already been taken by S Sriram.
Finally, when the message came, it came from Thiruvananthapuram. BCCI secretary SK Nair announced that there would be no change in the team already selected and Dravid would remain skipper. 8216;8216;Since less than 24 hours remain for the start of the Kanpur match, the Board felt that it was extremely important for the players to concentrate and focus on the match, so that they could bring out the best performance. In view of this, the Board has decided to continue with the selected team for the Kanpur match8217;8217;, Nair8217;s statement added.
And Ganguly? Nair said the circumstances under which the decision was taken had been explained to him and the skipper 8216;8216;appreciated the Board8217;s decision8217;8217;.
Another day in Indian cricket.
