Is it time for Ganguly to hang his boots?

[Jono]

I don't personally think he should retire, but there is no question that his form is very worrying. That being said, its mainly the fact that he's scoring relatively useless (for lack of a better term) 40s and 50s when the game is gone/drawn or when India are in a comfortable position, and not scoring when the team really requires runs. As has been said, his average in the last 15 tests is better than his whole career, and IMO he looked very impressive until he was removed in the first test vs. Aus back in 2004. But there are times when he has looked like a number 11 at the crease, and thats generally when we need him to stay in. That is what worries me the most. I really hope he has a killer ODI series from here, because he was still one of my favourite batsman in the 90s, and I still remember his golden period with the bat in ODIs for India.

 

[deeps]

actually i think steve waugh's form slump wasnt' as big as it was made out to be. Taylor had a massive form slump, very similar to ganguly's actually. and taylor came good in the end with 334*.

HOWEVER, the rest of the aussie line up was firing and they were still winning series after series. India can not afford to carry a weak link in their lineup. If tendulkar was at the peak of his powers, yes they could afford to do it, with the likes of sehwag and dravid consistently scoring.

But laxman is out of form, gambhir is new, tendulkar is also out of form. The bulk of the scoring is being left to both sehwag and dravid. Laxman and tendulkar don't deserve to be dropped yet, which leaves ganguly.

I dont have figures on steve waugh's form slump, but i don't recall it being as bad as it was made out to be. And then he suddenly went into career best form! However, ganguly is not anywhere near the same class as SRW

 

[deeps]

I think we all remember that well!

He was apparently the bowler who when added to the side would make India the best side in the World...

and he has the makings of a world class bowler... perhaps even a pretty decent all rounder


I don't see why pathan get's all the hype , when balaji is so much better. The only reason pathan has all the hype, is that he's modelled his action on wasim and is left armed.

Zaheer was better at the start of his career, and he didn't receive this kind of hype either

 

[Adamc]

actually i think steve waugh's form slump wasnt' as big as it was made out to be. Taylor had a massive form slump, very similar to ganguly's actually. and taylor came good in the end with 334*.

HOWEVER, the rest of the aussie line up was firing and they were still winning series after series. India can not afford to carry a weak link in their lineup. If tendulkar was at the peak of his powers, yes they could afford to do it, with the likes of sehwag and dravid consistently scoring.

But laxman is out of form, gambhir is new, tendulkar is also out of form. The bulk of the scoring is being left to both sehwag and dravid. Laxman and tendulkar don't deserve to be dropped yet, which leaves ganguly.

I dont have figures on steve waugh's form slump, but i don't recall it being as bad as it was made out to be. And then he suddenly went into career best form! However, ganguly is not anywhere near the same class as SRW

Taylor's slump was far worse - 21 innings without a fifty. He scored 96 on December 9, 1995, and didn't reach pass fifty again until June 7, 1997. Ganguly has experienced nothing like that, and I can't imagine the uproar that would ensue if he remained in the side if he went 21 innings (18 months!) without a fifty.
The main difference as you point out is that Taylor's captaincy had taken Australia to world no. 1, whereas India's success has been limited since the tour in Australia. I'm still not certain as to whether he should go or not - if there was a guaranteed success waiting in the wings then you'd think so, but in this case I don't think there is. Yuvraj and Kaif may offer a few extra runs per innings (then again they may not), but that has to be measured against the worth of Ganguly's captaincy.

 

[Jono]

Yuvraj and Kaif may offer a few extra runs per innings (then again they may not), but that has to be measured against the worth of Ganguly's captaincy.

Added to that, the risk that Dravid's batting may fall if he is bestowed captaincy with Ganguly gone. It would seem likely, as Kumble isn't a certain starter for both ODIs and Tests, and Dravid is.

There are several things to weigh up. Being a captain of any cricketing nation is tough enough, but captaining India is the toughest IMO, and I wouldn't want Dravid's batting to be negatively effected. He's too valuable to our team, more valuable than a Kaif/Yuvraj in place of a Ganguly at the moment.

 

[shoot_me]

I don't see why pathan get's all the hype , when balaji is so much better. The only reason pathan has all the hype, is that he's modelled his action on wasim and is left armed.

Zaheer was better at the start of his career, and he didn't receive this kind of hype either

Big companies fall in love with powder puff cricketers like Pathan and create the hype. Balaji, on the other hand, isn't exactly a poster boy and remained focused. Even though he clearly doesn't have the natural talent that Pathan possesses, he makes up for it with discipline.

 

[sledger]

Big companies fall in love with powder puff cricketers like Pathan and create the hype. Balaji, on the other hand, isn't exactly a poster boy and remained focused. Even though he clearly doesn't have the natural talent that Pathan possesses, he makes up for it with discipline.

yes but balaji is a poster boy, he has a large female following amonst the indian public, unless you mean something else.

 

[shoot_me]

yes but balaji is a poster boy, he has a large female following amonst the indian public, unless you mean something else.

Well I wasn't aware that women in India were so fond of Balaji.

 

[sledger]

Well I wasn't aware that women in India were so fond of Balaji.

indeed so

 

[marc71178]

and he has the makings of a world class bowler... perhaps even a pretty decent all rounder

The first bit is stretching it a little (depending on personal definition of world-class), the second is stretching it a lot.

 

[wahindiawah]

No.. because Australians possess more depth in their talent.. Ie backup players who would more than die for an international spot.. and when given.. peform big on most occasions..

When India have batsmen like Yuvraj and Kaif (also happen to be inform ) then its not a case of having greater depth or not.

 

[deeps]

The first bit is stretching it a little (depending on personal definition of world-class), the second is stretching it a lot.

if you watched the recent test series with pakistan, you would have seen some very good pace bowling from balaji. He is a very disciplined hard working cricketer, and bare in mind he's only 22. I'm not saying he's world class now, but i said he has the potential to do it, and i can see it happening.

Maybe i wasn't clear what i meant by all rounder. I meant a more than handy lower order batsman, kind of like wasim akram, chaminda vaas, shane warne. etc. who are predominantly bowlers, who can bat better than most tail enders, and can make the odd 50.

 

[marc71178]

Ah, you see I have quite strict definitions on both of those terms.

 

[deeps]

lol fair enough, though i did say "he has the makings of a world class bowler" basically implying potential, but the all rounder part was badly worded

 

[Choora]

I think we all remember that well!

He was apparently the bowler who when added to the side would make India the best side in the World...

He isn't doing bad atm, doesnt he???

The guy is going to improve further and i think will end up as a real great pacer for India.

 

[wahindiawah]

Balaji had a horrific start to his career, but came back a lot later, still did nothing of note, and is shaping up well only now. Dinesh Mongia's often dropped and recalled, and so is Murali Karthik.
.

Balaji struggled in his initiall part of career, something which is common with pacers .Ganguly has a different case, he's struggling badly currently and as a captain is placing his team under pressure with poor performance, he also seems to be a very weak batter of pace bowling in test matches.

I hope he proves me wrong and score a ton in his next match against Pakistan, it will make my day if Sami and Rana are trashed in the next match by the likes of Ganguly, Dravid and Pakistan's fielder's friendly V Sehwag!

 

[deeps]

maybe it's time ganguly gives up the captaincy. he should tell the selectors that it's affecting his batting adversly, and he needs to relenquish it to find his top form.

This could lead to the end of his career though, as the selectors might decide to throw him out after 3 or 4 matches as just a player if he fails.

but it's a risk he has to take.

 

[wahindiawah]

I don't think he's good enough to continue to play for long at test matches, i mean nowdays even the likes of Sami and Rana can troube him with short pitch ball.

He might continue to play at oneday level though, but again he has to find his long lost golden touch.

 

[deeps]

sami is quick enough to trouble alot of batsman with the short ball...


rana on the other hand.......................

 

[vandemataram]

sami is quick enough to trouble alot of batsman with the short ball...

...

even i can trouble ganguly with the shorter ball