IndiaTimes has an article on what it calls the ‘Ganguly Effect’. Sourav Ganguly took his place for granted in the Indian team, he was subsequently released from the captaincy role and then dropped… for a year. Sehwag and Irfan Pathan merited the same treatment after the South African series. Sehwag was in atrocious form, single digit averages almost. Pathan was batting well but his bowling was as bad as Sehwag’s batting. The Indian management took the gutsy move and sent Pathan packing to India to play in the Ranji trophy in the middle of the series. The message is clear, you can’t take your place for granted in the Indian team.
But. there have been a few notable drops in the previous years as well. Parthiv Patel who was hailed as next ‘great’ wicketkeeper and gutsy batsmen was dropped and sent to perform in Ranji Matches after a string of poor performances. Zaheer Khan got the same treatment. Although Parthiv Patel hasn’t yet returned Zaheer Khan has and is performing well.
The reporters make this out like its the latest fashion. But the Australian team has been dropping players quite often and has been doing that for a while. You don’t perform well your out. Darren Lehman, Michael Clarke, Brett Lee were amongst the notable ones who got dropped. If you remember a long time ago, Steve Waugh got dropped – that was a shocker he was a national icon. It seems to work well in Australia, Michael Clarke is batting well these days.
The 1 Crore Rupee question is, will it work in India? So far so good with Ganguly…
Rushi's Ramblings 