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New selection panel to fix on Sourav's fate

New Delhi, Wed, 01 Oct 2008 NI Wire

As the new selection panel headed by former captain Krish Srikkanth is to announce the Test squad against the visiting Australian team, there might be some favourable announcement for Sourav Ganguly who has been dropped from the Rest of India squad for the Irani Trophy.

The five-day Irani Trophy match between Ranji Champion Delhi and Rest of India (RoI) was a perfect ground for selectors to pick the able-bodied players for the most crucial clash against the Australians.

Ganguly, 36, was kept aside from the Irani Trophy squad just because of his poor form in the Test series against Sri Lankan in which he only scored 96 with 35 being the highest score in 6 innings averaging only 16. But being the most successful Test captain of India, moreover, his overall performance in last year with more than 1000 runs (with an average of 45) may bring selectors to think about his inclusion.

Comparing Sourav Ganguly with the other big two, Sachin who scored a total of 95 runs in 3 Test matches and Dravid who aggregated 148 runs in the recently concluded India-Sri Lanka series, the new selection panel has a tough job to play.

With an average of nearly 32 (31.73) in 20 Tests against Australia, Sourav Ganguly’s experience matters the most in such a crucial tie when middle order batsmen like Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Mohammad Kaif lack consistency.

Again if selectors think a sixth batsman and the probability of giving chance to a young man, S. Badrinath may be considered ahead of the other. So, new selectors have to take note of several things when they meet on Wednesday to pick the squad for the first two Tests against Australia.

The Indian team is confident to meet the challenge. During their last encounter, India had defeated the Aussie in the triangular one-day series, but lost the Test series 2-1 in Australia.

The test series will begin from October 9 in Bangalore followed by matches in Mohali from October 17 to 21, in Delhi from October 29 to November 2 and in Nagpur from November 5 to 9.