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Ban pushes Ganguly to the brink
Banned and out of form, Ganguly could be on the verge of exiting the Indian team as critics raise the big question: Is it a bad phase or a genuine decline?
Banned and out of form, Sourav Ganguly could be on the verge of exiting the Indian team.
The captain's future was hotly debated across India a day after he was banned for six one-dayers for his team's slow over rate in the Pakistan one-day series.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee Chris Broad also fined 30 per cent of his match fee as captain, after India exceeded the allotted time for the second successive game.
The punishment added to the misery of Ganguly, already fined in the previous match for a similar offence and coming soon after Pakistan's last-ball victory in Ahmedabad to level the six-match series 2-2 with two games left.
India's captain for five years, the most successful in Tests with 19 victories, Ganguly had escaped a two-Test ban for slow over rate in November after his appeal was upheld.
The sanction has compounded his misery, in the midst of his poor batting form which has already raised a clamour for his removal.
Known for flowing off-side shots at his best, Ganguly's one-day record is particularly impressive. His 22 centuries are behind only compatriot Sachin Tendulkar's record of 38 and he needs just 33 more to aggregate 10,000 runs.
GENUINE DECLINE
However, critics are raising the big question, whether it is just a bad phase for Gangly or a sign of genuine decline.
His last Test hundred came in 2003-end. He made just 48 runs in five Test innings in the current series followed by nought, nine, four and 18 in the first four one-dayers.
A grumpy Ganguly has looked ill at ease at the crease, his mode of dismissals revealing his desperation for runs and lack of focus. As captain, the team have missed his usual aggression in tight situations.
