S: "...I am a former cricket captain, numerically the most successful one for my country in this sport. People say I have led my national side with distinction and the team treaded uncharted territories of achievement with me in command. I used to be a more-than-handy batsman too. Then I had a prolonged lapse of form with the bat. At around the same time I also stumbled with the captaincy and code of conduct. All hell broke loose and suddenly I was out of the one-day side, by all indications for good. Ever since that, any official declaration regarding me or my selection is invariably stripped of all transparency. Sometimes I feel there is one set of rules for judging the others and another unstated set for me."

I: "Hmmmm..."

S: "Even my inclusion in the Test side touring your country is not a recognition of my return to form in first class cricket but a compromise forced by a nationwide surge of protest against my unexplained omission in the midst of the last series. Here I am getting my first hit on your soil in the final Test of a series. This may be well be the match that decides the rest of my Test career. I come out to bat at 56/4 with my team nearly 200 runs in arrears and see off the tricky passage of end of day's play. I come back to pavilion expecting to unwind for the gruelling day ahead tomorrow, only to learn that the announcement of the ODI squad and my omission from it had to be made this very day. You got anything to say?"

I "Me? I got the captaincy around two years back, roughly at the same age as your present skipper. My form has soared since then while my team has been going from strength to strength for a while. No one in my country cribs about my batting form or my captaincy, not even the fast bowler that I chastised for being a deterrent to team building activities. Yet..."

They step out of the elevator.

I: "Yet you are playing in this make-or-break match and I am not. Both of us are carrying injuries, but mine is physical. You are lucky Sourav - at least you can be a part of this."

Both of them smile in agreement and walk away in opposite directions as the elevator door closes.

Guess who the happiest man in India is at the moment Angshuman?
Saurav Ganguly.
39-6 is one thing.
No Inzamam is another.
He is laughing his (Rear end) off at the moment, and by the way, Angshuman say hi to Krishna and Gaurav for me, they are always in my thoughts, and enjoy your Series win over England, with your Spinners taking 46 out of 60 wickets-just my opinion, y'understand...

Wow! That conversation seems quite long for the duration of an elevator ride! I do sympathize with Saurav in that he should be given a proper chance to prove himself in the oneday series. He has the ability to score under pressure, a feat which is not prominent amongst the Indian batsmen, for the most part.

Feroz

Prediction 1: See you after 2 years - same blog, same series, different result:)

[Courtesy demands that the gritted teeth be adequately concealed in that smiley]

Prediction 2: Hopefully by then Younis Khan would have cracked a big hundred against Australia down there and Youhana scripted another a-brisk-century-a-match series at England to prove Sehwag wrong.

Between you and me, the only one of those two predictions that I half-expect to come true is the first one.

Hi Ali!

I really should have mentioned each of the elevator stoppages at intermediate floors separately to heighten your reading pleasure.

Like in most situations when things start to go wrong there are scapegoats. During WWII, Hitler used the Jews as scapegoats similarily in Indian Cricket they made it Ganguly. Ganguly's arrogance and heavy hitting spirit were the cause of the resurgence of Indian cricket after miserable failures under past captains. He plays with more passion and pressure than any cricketer in the past decade has ever played along with that he has to put up with the players revolt and BCCI politcs. The Ganguly/ Wright/ Dalmiya should be haled as the messiah of Indian Cricket during times of turmoil. He was able to put together a winning team even though there was internal disruptions ( Srinath, Kumble).
Ganguly also was able to uncover rare gems (Dhoni, Yuvraj, Kaif, Pathan, Sewhag) and the way we salute him is by not allowing to prove himself. The man has 20+ centuries in ODIs yet he still was not taken in the invitational super series.
The Ganguly/Chappell bickering was a downside but by asking a captain to stepdown in mid series and be replaced is the biggest insult a cricketer can face. Tendulkar wasn't even removed under those circumstance after his horrible test captain run. The Chappell/Dravid combination has been given unnecessary compliments because victories against a depleted Sri Lanka team that can't win away from home. The real test was the South Africa series where India was brutally abused in the emphatic losses against RSA handed them. The Paki-Ind Series once again showed that even after all the hype Indian bBowling was the same after all. The world came crashing down when after the Pakistanis were reduces to 39/6 they were unable to convert the good start.
Chappell's methods and dealing with the team, selection and attitude of players are doing more harm than good. His constant experiments show more weakness in the players that are suppose to play in those positions especially in the batting lineup.
To sum everything up If Chappell wins India a World Cup he would have an early entry to sainthood and his failure to would lead to him being crucified.

Angshuman,
You know that in England, Pakistan's record in Tests is second only to the Aussies(in the 90's), check our record over there since 1992-we won 5 series' in a row at one time, I'd like to say that we "Own" England, yes their bowling is a lot better now but we'll give them a tough fight. Why don't you worry about whether India will win a series in England any time this decade and let us deal with the Poms. Australia is the Holy Grail for Pakistan now, by the way I don't know what I'll be doing in 2 weeks let alone 2 years. All the best and no hard feelings.
Feroz.
PS-the Defence rests.

It's Yousuf. Mohammad Yousuf.

As an ardent Pakistani fan, I am often inflamed at the lack of respect for Pakistani cricket. Reading Andrew Miller's article the other day, I could envision how a born-and-bred Englishman can be absolutely oblivious of Pakistan's rich cricket culture. Pakistan is not a "younger" rival to England or India. It has a GREATER, let me repear, GREATER post-WW II cricket history than both countries.

Pakistan has a winning record in both forms of the game (more than 50% win:loss ratio). India hasn't managed that in either of the two international versions of the game. England is still beyond the 500-mark (50%) owing to their pre-WW II record. I understand that Pakistan is not biggest democracy in the world and that it has never ruled the world with an iron fist. Let's not confuse political/strategic/economic importance of countries with cricketing prominence. On the canvas of world cricket, Pakistan shines in colors as bright as those of Australia or West Indies. It has been a consistent power-house for the last 25 years. Even when there's conflict in the ranks and controversy over captaincy, people with sound knowledge of cricket never write Pakistan off. The reason: because they're simply too darn talented. And I don't say this without adequate support. I believe refuting Geoffery Boycott's opinion on the proliferation of natural ability in Pakistan would seem rather unwise on a mere bolgger's part.

Keval Patel: Aren't you condemning the Chappel/Dravid team alittle early? ENGLAND couldn't beat Pakistan, and they won the bloody Ashes. Also, keep in mind that even at the very height of Team Wright/Ganguly's glory, India were only OCCASIONAL world beaters.

Jay:I know what it's like for the team you support to be belittled, but let's not go nuts. England have consistently produced great players in every decade following the war (even in the '90's they could turn to Thorpe or Gough), whereas Pakistan have only really dominated in the last 25 years. You're right, Pakistan have had one helluva 25 years, but that shouldn't erase names like Trueman, Statham, Compton, Cowdrey and Barrington from cricket history.

Marcus,

I would never include Statham and Cowdrey in the same list as Akram, Inzy, Miandad or Imran Khan. And please don't mention Gooch, Gower, Thorpe and co. Have a look at their records. Atherton averaged 37, and he is remembered as the rock of the 1990's England top order. Oh, and when was the last time an English cricketer averaged more than 50. Even Boycott's average was unfer 48. Sometimes I think even Boycott's contribution are overstated: 22 centuries in 193 innings, decent but not outa-this-world. But I'll make an exception for Boycott since he did have a weird stop-and-go career.

So, my point being, if you mention Gough and Caddick in the same breath as Akram and Younis, you know what you've done: you've made every great cricketer squirm in his grave by assigning greatness at will.