Ganguly is too good a player to be counted out

The Indian captain has been giving interviews to the media claiming how stronger he has emerged after the India-Australia Test series. All credit to him; in spite of all the pressures on and off the field, Sourav Ganguly has emerged as a tough leader of men, even making Steve Waugh talk about it.

As a player Ganguly has a handful of problems to deal with. Lately he has become the weak link in the strong middle-order batting lineup. Fast bowlers around the world would reckon they have a good chance of dismissing him with a quick rising delivery. Ganguly has had time to work on his technical faults in the last two months, which also includes the training camp in Bangalore.

Ganguly's record at home this season speaks for itself. In five Test matches on batting friendly tracks, he has scored a mere 228 runs at a dismal average of 28.50. England's Nasser Hussain is the other captain who has had a rather similar wretched run with the bat in the near past. With international cricket being played at its competitive best these days, Ganguly just cannot afford to fail with the bat.

Given the fact that the players have asked for a contract of sorts and that the BCCI President has promised a graded system of payment, any captain should be 'value for money'. Ganguly has had a meteoric rise in Indian cricket ever since he scored back-to-back hundreds against England in his first two Test matches. Now that VVS Laxman has delivered the goods that he has been promising for so many years, the Indian middle order is rather heavy with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid around.

The selectors have made Ganguly's life easier by suggesting that the 'standing in' man of Indian cricket, Rahul Dravid would open the innings if required. One wonders the wisdom of having Dravid being the standby wicket keeper and even the standby opener. Surely there must be an efficient way to deal with the situation. After all, Indians have a professional coach in John Wright and one expects the best from the team management.

The onus is on Ganguly to score runs heavily in Zimbabwe and lead India to a Test series win abroad in more than seven years. His record against Zimbabwe is not heartening either. In the run up to the Test series, Ganguly has had moderate success with the bat as other leading batsmen went on a leather hunt and scored hundreds. A half-century against the CFX Academy is all he has to take with him into the first Test match. Only time would tell whether Ganguly would emerge successful in his bid to redeem his personal glory and that of Indian cricket; he is just too good a player to be counted out.