Mohinder Amarnath wrote a piece recently where he argued that it was a mistake to pick two wicket-keepers (Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik) in the playing eleven. I don't think that's where the problem lies. I'm old enough to remember the time India played both Farokh Engineer and Budhi Kunderan. Kunderan played as a batsman and he was picked for the same reason that Karthik is: he showed promise as an opener, a position India has always had trouble filling. Karthik has scored runs every time he's been given an opportunity and I don't think it's a good idea to unsettle the team's best batsman, Dravid, by making him open.

No, the reason this experiment is meaningless is that Dravid and Ravi Shastri have picked Sourav Ganguly over VVS Laxman. If India were to play six batsmen, Ganguly walks into the team. He has made a brave return to the Indian team in both forms of the game and he deserves his place at number six. As a Test batsman Ganguly is still twice the player Yuvraj will ever be. But in a line up of five, after Karthik, Wasim Jaffer, Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, surely the fifth has to be Laxman. His recent form in Test matches, his overall record, his average, his ability against fast bowling are all superior to Ganguly's. Were we to play Australia or England or South Africa on quick pitches I can't see anyone rooting for Ganguly over Laxman and if it's Bangladesh and slow bowlers we're talking about, nobody sane is going to argue that Laxman is less than masterful against spin. Or that Ganguly is immeasurably the better fielder. I could argue the reverse: Laxman is a fine slip catcher.

So why did Ganguly get the nod over Laxman? It doesn't seem to be on account of the 'process' that Dravid was once so keen on. If 'process' is shorthand for a rational long haul strategy systematically implemented regardless of short term setbacks, the dropping of Laxman seems the very opposite of process: it seems an example of how expediency trumps merit and reason in Indian cricket, it seems, in short, a political decision.

It seems a political decision forced upon the team management by its complicity in the selectors' decision to 'rest' Ganguly (along with Tendulkar) from the one-day games against Bangladesh. My guess about the reasoning behind Laxman's exclusion goes like this: World Cup gossip, a television sting operation and the rumours about Dravid's difficulties with senior players made it clear to everyone that they were being punished for having been recalcitrant, awkward and subversive of the captain's authority. In this context dropping Ganguly from the Bangladesh Tests would have seemed like vendetta so the tour management dropped Laxman instead.

Ganguly, with composure and courage, compiled a century in the Chittagong Test which meant that Laxman was benched for the Bangladesh Test series. So if Dravid is serious about a five batsman team in the long run, the current series has entrenched a batsman who is dodgy against the short ball at the expense of perhaps the best player of fast bowling in the Indian team. If he isn't, if the five-batsman strategy is designed for the sub-continent's slow pitches, then he needs to explain to us (and perhaps to his erstwhile team mate, Laxman) why the batsman the team turns to in difficult conditions, is denied the opportunity to consolidate his place in the Indian side and fill his boots in easier ones?

Dravid has form in the business of dropping Laxman from the side. He has chosen Yuvraj over Laxman in a home series during Chappell's regime as coach which, in Test match terms, is close to sacrilege. But to drop Laxman (and remember that Laxman was vice-captain in the last Test series we played in South Africa) because it was inexpedient to drop Ganguly is worse because it seems to indicate a willingness to politically finesse a cricketing choice. To exile Laxman to the margins of the team, to make an extra of a batsman who by right should be seen as one of the anchors of India's Test match batting over the next few years, is inexplicable especially when the captain who has made that call had the privilege of playing glorious second-fiddle to Laxman through his great, match-winning innings in Kolkata in 2001.

It is easy to see why Amarnath called our selectors a bunch of jokers. As the article rightly points out, Laxman is the best batsman in the test team after Dravid. The embarassingly out of sorts Tendulkar (despite his ton) is only a shadow of his former self. It is pathetic to see him struggling against short bowling from Mortaza and worse still, Rasel!
In an era where good test batsman are hard to find, India has made a huge blunder by not playing one of it's finest.
There is no way that either Ganguly or Karthik should be playing ahead of VVS. Now that everyone has made a good score in the Bangla series, they will most likely be playing in the England series and perhaps contribute towards making the hapless Harmison a confident bowler again!

itz worst of talking esply dirty, politics filled (till the neck) cricket team playing for the great nation (im not taking the "indian" cricket team cos i dont want to talk bad about our nation).total team is worstly composed, thatz y now a days the cricket is loosing itz crazy in india.... so my humble request to viewers is dont follow the our dirty teams very occassional wins and very regular failures, dont hurt urselves... itz very worth of following and enjoy the NEAT cricket of kiwis, aussies, proteos and some new teams like irish people... cmming to laxman's case is nothing but "laxman is bhali ka bhakaraa" of dirty politics and favourism of this dirty cricket team........ finally lets forget this cricket and concentrate on cmming up TENNIS mega events....... so eat tennis, sleep tennis and dream tennis......good luck to fedex,andy,our sania,sharapova, justin, william sisters and other stars....

I understand where you are coming from and agree with you that Laxman was desperately unlucky to miss out in this series against Bangaldesh. However, I sometimes get the feeling that we get a little misty-eyed about Laxman, thanks to that 281. (No I'm not forgetting what he did in Australia in 2003-04). Best player of fast bowling in the Indian team?...Really? I, personally, think when it comes to playing fast bowling in the Indian team, there is Dravid, daylight, and then the rest. Admittedly, now with Tendulkar clearly on the wane, Laxman would take up second spot, but I still don't think we can elevate him to a pedestal where we call him our best player in tough conditions. At least, not so long as the man who partnered him, and indeed bettered him, in perhaps India's greatest overseas victory ever at Adelaide, is still going strong.

im an aussie. vvs has the best record of any player against us in the past 10 years.

i think ganguly has only one decemt score against us at brisbane a few years ago.

if india dont want vvs we will have him

BCCI will find it difficult to find sponsers , very shortly.
We can't expect anything more than dirty politics in cricket when BCCI head himeself is a dirty politician.
God Bless Indian Sports other than Cricket.

In my personal opinion, VVS Laxman is the best batsman in India when in full flow. When he is in good touch, his batting looks like MF Hussain painting a master piece.

Unfortunately, we have two more senior players who cannot be dropped because of their Iconic status in India. If VVS Laxman is picked ahead of those demi-gods or Dada' he we will be under tremendous pressure to deliver. If he fails, there goes media uproar over his selection ahead of those demi-gods.

This is why Team Management hasn't picked him.
Coming to Five Bowlers theory, I ridicule people who criticise that theory. We have only Anil Kumble who can be called as Match-Winner. If he has ordinary day then who else will pick up the wickets ??? We need 20 wickets to win a test match.
Actually, R.Dravid's aggressive approach is in fore here. It just shows he is going for win and not draw.

VVS Laxman should seriously find some ways to open for India. This is the only way he can get consistently into Team India.

I guess, if India wants to go with five bowlers, then fifth one has to be an allrounder, as all other tems are having. Pathan may fit the place once he proves his bowling skills. Coming to Laxman's omission from the team, I can just call it a blunder, if there is anyone in the team who can play good solid innings is only Laxman after Mr. captain. Ganguly is all fine in ODIs, but test cricket means serious business and he does not fit to it as every team would not be Bangladesh and every country would not have flat pitches as are in sub-continent.

I dont think the reason behind Laxman's expulsion is politically motivated. Ganguly has superior average to laxman in SA series(43 & 36 respectively). One cant bask in the past glory. Yes Laxman hit some memorable innnings down under and a fluke of its kind in kolkata. But its ages back. Even Gavaskar is a fine player against fast. Can we pick him now?? Am a ardent fan of your posts. But dont drag the viewers into your mould of unreasonable thinking with all that crap.

I completely agree with MK. Irrespective of the political expediency of the selection team (read Rahul and Ravi, with may be Robin and Venky), if one were to pick five batsmen + WK + five bowlers, then where does Dhoni stand? I would not say that Dhoni is a better "Test" batsman than VVS or a better keeper than Karthik (at least as good). So, with Karthik willing to fill in the openers' slot, the choice should have been VVS at No.5 and Sourav at No.6. And going by the way, everyone who knows how to take a stance scores a century in Mirpur, Ganguly might never get to bat, and you end up only batting five of them!

Its sort of depressing to watch Sachin potter around, nudge, tickle and struggle for runs against a slightly-better-than-club-class bolwing attack. When Dravid and Karthik (and to a lesser extent Jaffer and Ganguly also) are going on the attack, or at least batting aggresively to push back the bowlers, it is painful to watch Sachin at the crease.

If anyone, it should be he that is dropped in favour of Laxman. Sachin's strike rate, in both matches so far, has hardly been indicative of the kind of attack he is playing against, and perhaps slowing down the innings at crucial times. At least Ganguly comes in with an aggressive intent, and has been in good nick of late. On the England question, he would be the right candidate to take Panesar (the only effective English bowler) apart.

Best bowler against fast bowling in the Indian team? Dravid + Tendulkar > Laxman. I have many a memory of Laxman's stumps cartwheeling, from many a pace bowler...Being bowled through the gate is as natural to VVS as a cover drive.

Mr.Kesavan seems to have conveniently forgotten that Ganguly was the top scorer in the previous series against South africa, and if he can argue that Karthik should be persisted with taking current form into account, then why not Ganguly, yes he is right about the 5 batsman theory being farcical but his argument holds no ground as to Laxman being better than Ganguly at least in current form, he has shown the determination to fight it out even in tough bouncy conditions, it would have made more sense if he had written about Sachin and Laxman, as Laxman probably ought to have got the nod over Sachin on current form, but it seems that is not his concern here, though I must say barring that I completely endorse his views of Politics taking precedence over cricket more often than not in Indian cricket.

The Aussies, South Africans and the English would only be too happy if Laxman is benched. He is THE BEST crisis man after Dravid. The rest are all travellers in a safe road, Tendulkar included.
We need to show courage...it is a pity that Shastri and Dravid chose not to show it.

Personally, Laxman is not the best against fast bowling in the side. That, is Dravid. The toss up though is between Karthik, Ganguly, Laxman and Yuvraj, with three on offer. I dont think Karthik is an opener. Playing in timid subcontinent conditions doesnt make you an opener. Let us not go gaga over a few of his performances. The same thing happened with Akash Chopra. Where is he now?
Ganguly deserves a spot primarily on performance. My pick would be to drop yuvraj/Karthik instead of Ganguly.

This is a classic case of being obsessed with individuals. and we, the indian, are "MAREEJ" of paralysis by analysis...

if practice session reports which appear in media are anything to go by Laxman was not even properly knocking the local bangla bowlers and was not showing enough confidence that he as overcome his illness nor was he in any sort of touch...

the selection purely is horses for courses...anyway our middle order bears the same look for past 10-15 years and somebody someday has to be replaced...

the fault lies with Laxman too coz somehow he has not being able to cement his place to the extent of being 'untouchable'. i feel somewhere down the line he will be regretting those "glorious" 30 something innings he used to play given his class and touch he is known for...

VVS may be the so called best player of fast ball, but he is no way better than Ganguly or Tandulkar. Even if you compare his test record with Ganguly, he doesnt stand a chance as VVS is useless in field, can not bowl. Only batting can not take you places. It is a game where you gotta field and may be if you can, bowl too. VVS will always be remembered for his couple of innings where as Dravid, Ganguly and Tendulkar will be remember as legends. Mark my words, you wont find anyone rememberin VVS but everyone will remember these three great players on indian cricket of our time.

I don't think Laxman has done enough with his prodigious, tremendous batting talent to truly cement a place for himself in the Indian team. In 80 tests, he has an average of 42 with 10 centuries and 27 fifties. Kesavan's argument clearly misses an important point here, and thus, sounds like the sentimental musings of another journalist idiot, needing to write something to keep himself busy. We need players that perform to their best of their abilities - period. Ganguly is currently doing that. Let's now focus on winning. Enough said.

I agree that Laxman is very unfortunate to sit out in this series, but if we look at it practically and on the basis of current form the decision seems justified. Picking Laxman would have meant dropping one of the five batsmen playing currently. The 5 bowler strategy is a right one as on these wickets its easy to score runs but difficult to pick wickets. So in that case, let us look at the options one by one -
1. Karthik - He had to play as he along with Jaffer was the only specialist opener picked for the tour. Besides, he has done fabulously well in all the limited opportunities he has got. So the lad deserves a place.
2. Jaffer - Again he had to be picked with the same reasoning as above. Even in the domestic circuit, Jaffer is more consistent than Laxman currently.
3. Dravid - He is the captain and India's best player in tests.
4. Tendulkar - Although he has lost it off late, but still tendulkar with such record and ability is anyday a better choice than VVS. besides, he can also roll a few over and get crucial break throughs (we saw that in the 1st test)
5. Ganguly - Agreed that VVS is a better test player than Saurav, but we must not forget that Ganguly was the highest run getter for India during that difficult tour of India. So on merit and current form, he deserved a place too.
6. Dhoni - Its ridiculous to drop him as he is the only player who can increase the scoring rate whenever required. Plus he is a very good form too.

So Looking at it this way, the decision is fair. Now Laxman can only come in when India decides to play 6 batsmen or one of these five fails.
I trust Shashtri and Dravid. They have played their cricket fairly and would always be fair in their decisions.

I completely agree with you MK. If they had to choose among ganguly/laxman , i think laxman would walk in without doubt. But strange are the ways of indian cricket.

It is simply amazing to see the journalists like Kesavan pleading for the inclusion of Laxman. I am not a great fan of Ganguly but he has shown courage under immense pressure while making a come back. He looked the best test batsman in the last Pakistan (away) tour. After all it is not his fault to have scored an aggressive stroke filled century in the first test.

However the real fact is: Yuvarj is much much better than both Laxman and Ganguly particularly in the long term. May be his fans (like me!) are either not so good at writing articles in English or may be they are not much intereseted in the academical (just talking and writing about) side of Cricket! No wonder, you will find more articles written aobut dropping of Laxman (and always mentioning „that“ outstanding innings at Eden Gardens six years back!) than leaving out Yuvraj!

Well, Yuvarj is much more an aggerssive batsman with a proven record even in tests. He is a left hander (only Ganguly is the other lefthanded recognised batsman in the Indian team!), is a brilliant fielder and almost 7 years younger than Laxman. As far as the temperament is concerned he is far ahead of Laxman! Admitted, he did not do too well in the WC or in the recent ODI’s. But in the WC he was the best Indian batsman on show as long as he batted. He also was just coming back (after quite sometime) from an injury. This actually would have been an ideal time for the team management to help Yuvraj come back to form against a poor bowling attack instead of giving further chances to impove records of the superstars (read Tendulkar!) who have batted slowly to accumulate runs to improve personal records rather than attack like Ponting, Lara etc. in the interests of the team!

Well, regarding Karthik we have to wait a bit longer to make an opinion. This England sereis will prove how good he is!

I agree with one of the comments above that if anybody was to be replaced in favour of Laxman, it would have to be Tendulkar and not Ganguly. That's absolutely true. How long are we going to keep Tendulkar in the team because of his PAST record and not current performance? I have an answer - I guess that would be till Sharad Pawar is heading BCCI !!! That's Indian cricket! Let Laxman go to Australia since he will never find a permanent place in the Indian team in the near future.

VVL is treated very badly. On the question of his fielding, how many catches has be dropped and how many has he taken? On his batting, what is his performance against strong teams as against the others? India did not choose the best man who would have adorned our President's office in rejecting CD Deshmukh and this political policy has been the bane of sports in India.
VVL you are a joy to watch and that is how people who know cricket will remember you.
c r natarajan

i love vvs i have a signed potrait of him on my wall i love watching him bat its a pleasure when he is in form.

Indian cricket has hit its lowest point.

What a nice guy to take all this crap. Over and Over again.

Dravid is a noob.

Make VVS captain.

5 bowler ploy is a farce. When 4 cant do it, no way 5 can do. This ploy wont work in England and Australia. You need to get your 6 best batsmen + 1 keeper and 4 bowlers to compete in a test match. Karthick wont help in longer run and Sehwag should be back as opener in Tests for England.

Laxxman ? What is he good for ? When was the last worth innings he played ? His last 100 came ages back. He hasnt won a game since long. Whats his credit to be in the team ? 281 ? Thats long gone. 6 years. he couldnt repeat on to that form and his modest record thereafter shows his inconsitency and fallacy......I feel his time is up for India colors.

It's a disgrace that VVS has not been incledued in the team.Had the opposition been Australia,South Africa and the grounds had been sligthly greener all the so called STARS would have comeup with one injury or the other.
Sacinandsauravsould be axed from the team for the bettermentof indiancricket.

It is getting painful to see a master like Sachin on the wane. Yes, runs speak for itself..but the day is not too far off when that will dry up as well. For God sake, pick the team on merit. Ganguly has done well against SA, which justifies his position. Maybe Karthik donning the wicketkeepers gloves and VVS being slotted into middle order would not be a bad idea.

Interesting how everyone here seems to believe that it is the ganguly - laxman choice.

Ganguly was India's best batsman in our last test series at SA. Vulnerable to short stuff or not - he peroformed (better than the likes of Tendulkar) in SA - on fast pitches against fast bowlers.

I strongly believe that the top 3 middle order batsman for India are Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman - on form, class and ability. Watching Tendulkar hop around against Mortaza (bowling at 130kmph) on a low-slow pitch only confirmed that Tendulkar is closer to the end of his career than most thing he is. I am quite sure he is completely incapable of handling a half decent fast bowling attack.

Yes - Laxman should have played - but, in Sachin's place - not Saurav's.

ha ha ha the same thing is happening again,they play all the so called stars against teams like bangladesh,kenya & zimbabwe and allow them to score so that their places can be cemented.this is not the first time they have dropped laxman against weak teams.but when the team is in real need,laxman is our crisis man pls check the details for confirmation.he is the one who is being made the scapegoat.

I completely agree with his views on vss over Ganguly. In fact I say drop Dhoni, get Kartick to keep, then U have a slot free to use as appropriate. This will anyway not be the team against England where we will go with an extra batsmen as we have to save the series :-)

More seriously, we should hope for pathan coming back to form by them & Munaf being fit (hopefully he will be honest). Hopefully we will not have to go back to Agarkar.

Folks, Karthick was picked as people (players/coaches) who interact with him indicate that he has a keen mind and is very situationally aware. He is a very ugly player to watch but he is gritty and is a fighter. He reminds me of England's Nasser Hussain. In effect, he is being brought in to gain experience. If he can hold his place on merit, he is India's next captain.

Now, onto VVS, I'd pick him over Tendulkar on current form, and pick on of Ganguly/Tendulkar. I agree that he has been given a raw deal by the selectors. Ganguly/Tendulkar are "untouchable", ergo I don't see what Dravid and RJS could have done except pick the team that is currently playing.

I almost forgot, MK your comments regarding Pathan are misguided. Greg did nothing to destroy his bowling prowess. In fact, I'd suggest that Greg was incapable of doing so.

I remember watching Pathan bowl in Pakistan, and one of the commentators (I forget who), pointed out that Pathan's action makes him susceptible to a side strain. And, sure enough some time later he did develop a side strain, and it has been downhill ever since for him as a bowler.

Well I dont think the team for this test is being chosen looking at English tour. The conditions are so widely different that it doesnt make sense. On a batsman friendly pitch, playing 5 bowlers was mandatory, even if they wouldnt do it in bowler friendly England. On the question of not playing Laxman, well theres nothing much to choose between him and Saurav, and the latter being the best batsman in SA should've got the nod anyway.

I completely agree with MK except where he goes in for some overstatement. Dravid is among the world's finest players of fast bowling, period - let alone in India's house of cards. And hey, where are the outraged bhadralok comments about their 'heeeroo' being targeted yet again by biased writers despite his being India's greatest leader after Subash Chandra Bose. I mean, hey, didn't any of you know that? He must phlay phorever...Laxman, Karthik, Yuvraj and the rest be damned.

Well sai Mukul. Laxman will be liked only by people who know cricket and who are impartial.Laxman deserves to be born in a country like australia not india where politics take precedence.If Laxman had a few endorsements ( he would have got them if he was representing bobay ,calcutta or delhi, punjab perhapps even UP).
To me he is second best batsman afer dravid.
He should also be selected for ODI as a no.3 batsman.His absence is definitely felt in the one dayers where the batting looks so fragile and unstable. The reasons cited for his non inclusion are only excuses by people who care less for team and country. It is ridiculous how Ganguly in testes and Mongia in one dayers are picked ahead of him. The team selection and the performance of indian team is really both frustating and appalling. That is why real cricket lovers and people who want indian team to perform well have lost interest in the game.
Come england tour we will know who are the real HEROES!!!

Laxman is a great batsman, whatever his record may be, and so is Ganguly or Sachin or Rahul. All these four shoud be in a test team, irrespective of the conditions and opponents. Wasim Jaffar and Dinesh Karthik deserve places in the team due to their recent performances. I guess no good team in the world ever thinks of playing two wicket keepers now a days. Krathik seems to be a better test player than Dhoni( though I am not sure whether he will be effective in foreign conditions where the ball will do a bit at the early stage of the innings, and don't forget cape town condition was not a typical south African condition as it was in Durban or Johannesberg), and Yuvraj can never survive at test level. So play these six batters and try to find a genuine opener immediately instead of karthik. As a whole, i am quite sure that Rahul is going to play seven Batters and 4 bowlers in any future test matches. And talking about Ganguly's test record? His record is as good as Viswanath, Vengsarkar, and many greats in the world. Are you not Going to include them in your test team? So why not Ganguly( whose average outside India is 45, and has got 8 hundreds out of his 13, 3 against Englad in England, one against New Zealand in Wellington, one against Australia in Brisbane.He averages 39 against australia, which is not so bad looking at his no. 6 position, 71 against England, 56 against New Zealand, 48 against Sri Lanka and so on. Tell me the name of few batters who have average 41 or more batting at no.6 position,you will not find many. One is gilchrist who has scored lesser no of runs than ganguly playing same no of tests. God knows how many ganguly would have averaged had he batted at no. 3 or no. 4, one thing, ganguly averages 61 in no. 3 in 15 test innings he has played with 3 centuries. So do not disrespect your stars so easily.) Sachin, rahul and Sourav are 3 legends and Laxman is a great, great player thats all i can say, you may agree, you may not.

Hi Mukul kesavan, I liked your article more for the articulation of your speech than for its content. I dont understand how many people really understand cricket in India, but everyone thinks he understands. for all you support for vvs I need few questions answered from you especially if you consider yourself an astitute follower of the game

Question 1: After India won the 1st test in the last SA series, and going into a second test match with a high probability of winnning, what was your great vvs doing playing out 20 runs from 120 balls and only to save his face afterwards by completing a half century in 150 balls, his was the defining innings of that series which turned series upside down. Compare it with the innnings that ashwell prince played for SA in same test that was also a slow innings but it set-up SA for victory, whereas vvs's innings set-up for loosing not just test match but the series itself. wasn't that clear he is desparately playing to cement his place in the side, and imagine if he could do this in an all important test series like SA and one where India could have completed first overseas test series victory against a strong nation in 20 years. Even a moment so strong has not inspired him to play positively and to play for teams cause. Forget about playing for India I even dont think he should be living in India after that.

Question 2: After his magical series in Aus-2003 did you count how many times your great slip-fileder vvs dropped catches - all of them in slips -, and most usually he drops players like ponting, gilchrist, inzamam kind and some times even dropping same player twice in the same match, and those players go on to do a carnage that has put the heads down of so many millions of indians.

Wake-up! your argument of Laxman being better than Ganguly doesnot hold any water at all, for both of them donot deserve place in India 100 - not just India 11 - we need players who play positively and those who play for the country.

Please go back on your words sir....VVS or Ganguly???? Why this comparision? I think Ganguly has proved what he is while VVS has still miles to cover even befor he reaches the toes of Ganguly....

Dear Sir,
your Mr.Dodgy was the top scorer in SAfrica, lest you forget that. VVS Laxman is a class player, agreed, but has not been in the best of touches recently. moreover, if you pick a team on form, then surely Ganguly makes a better case than VVS. also, VVS is a better player than any other Indian batsman on pitches with bouncy and carry. but in places like SL, we have seen him struggle at times.

These centuries do not mean a thing for a true cricket fan like me. Play Australia in Australia and if India can win one match out of 5, i will stand up and clap. I think the current Australia B team and account for Team India regardless of whether they play 4 or five bowlers. What India needs is new players with some hunger and killer instinct. These players are all posting centuries against a very weak team on perfect batting pitches. I hope the Indian public remembers the humiliating Bangladesh handed to us in the World Cup. This series is just a comeback for all the fallen heroes of team India. I am actually supporting Bangladesh, and I am just hoping something would stop team India from winning this series whether it is Bangladesh, rain or bad light.

As far as Laxman's ommision is concerned it is definitely a great blunder (if it is unintentional). We need to consistently play a batsman of his class and panache.. imagine not playing him in the 11 in english conditions... harmison cud well be back to his best bowling against someone like ganguly... plus even if u keep ganguly wat is dhoni doing in the test team.. kartik has proved himself to be one who has great temperament and who can make runs... so y do we need dhoni in the test team ?? ideally india shud play 5 bats + wk +5 bowlers---kartik jaffer dravid ganguly laxman tendulkar kumble harbhajan zaheer munaf srisanth but in english conditiond we can opt for an extra batsman at the expense of harbhajan (no dropping kumble ).... and i cant fathom as to why the selectors are not looking at mohd. kaif.... he is suach a fine and composed player... he definitely needs to be bought back....

Dropping Laxman time and again is not fair on him. Dhoni should be dropped, Kartik should keep wickets and Laxman should be included. If Dhoni is to be taken then Sachin should be dropped.

It is because of you reporters that people start idolizing cricketers from their past records. Laxman has class, but so does ganguly. In my eyes both of them are old...and have lost touch with reality (pace + speed + stamina).
Laxman followers having ganguly + tendu is a lost case....anyways....add or subtract laxman it is the same thing....the nexus of selection should just be on grounds of being able to prove on being an athlete with age kept in mind. Tendu has been like God Status to every Indian and therefore not to have riots is the only reasonable answer I see of him playing. Read the commentary...what the hell is he doing...thinking...and playing...

You just have to look at Tendulkar's strike rate in the current match to see that this isn't the Tendulkar that once was. May be he is also giving maximum exposure to his sponsors or he is too selfish to make one more century. All players' statistcis should be judged against the best current team. Put the same team against Australia & see what I'm trying to say.
It's a disgrace that VVS can't find a place in the current test team. I have seen some of VVS's best innings here in Australia including the one dayer's here against the best bowling attack in their own back yard. What more you can about a man?

Indian Cricket is ROTTEN to the core with money dictating players & management alike. Indian selectors & think tank is pig headed. Ravi Shastri/ Rahul Dravid, your selection STINKS. Rahul Dravid you should give up the captaincy if you are fair dinkum about Indian Cricket.

PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH.

u can not drop sachin.big player are always big.thay can play any where any time.big player also have bad time.every player have bad time.like donbrand man to.so india must keep playing sachin.

I agree with you 100%.It can happen in indian cricket only that in one test u r vice caption and in the next he isn't good enough to be among the top 5 batsman.
When Dravid took over from Ganguly, all of us had great hopes but decisions like this does not go well with that perception.And to be fair to Ganguly he is a much better ODI batsman than a test player and he was not included in the one day team.Decisions are made on Adhoc basis without any long term view. I am not very sure if indian team will really persist with Karthik on tours to England/Aust. I hope Dravid doesn't falter on this one atleast

In my personal opion VVS is a better slip filder,better player of pace & spin not like Ganguly trying to run alway from the wicket.Follow the Aussi series where India drew 1-1.Ganguly played only one good inning & rest he was trying to hit @ everything out of the ground that shows he does not have balls to place long innings againts top class bowlers.VVS is a better captian even then Dravid.when Tendulkar VVS realy suffered with his batting postion so did when Ganguly was & also when Dravid is the captain.It's high time these bunch of selectors I call them a bunch of jokers as they have no cricketing brain at all should have the balls to drop Ganguly who is untouhable I don't why.Looks like it's Dravid v/s the Indian Dressing room????.

2001 and 2003 were many yeas ago. In recent months, Laxman has almost always failed despite many chances. Why drop Ganguly, on current the form the most consistent batsman over the past year? Dropping Ganguly will be the real dirty politics. Let's not forget all his recent failures and just focus on Laxman distant past performances. If Adi the Aussie want him, they can have him, we'll take Ponting instead.

The very fact that you had to go back to the eden innings (6 yrs ago) to give finishing touches to you article proves that your poitns are not well founded. Be in present. Sourav did better than ALxman in SA. Why did you not mention that? Or why did you conveniently forget it? Cricinfo has been venonmously agaisnt Sourav for alst couple of years. Atleast find some good reasons to attack him.

How many times has Tendulkar got out in his nineties and how many times has he got out as soon as crossing 100. I believe that extra 10 runs he scored each time has been of no use since it takes away the momentum as he scores them at such a slow rate. He claims now the coach shouldn't be questioning his attitude. If he carries on like this the whole country will be questioning for which he will find it very dificult to come up with an answer. He has got most of the records. I can't understand why he can't just go on to the field and enjoy himself. If he can't he should seriously consider retiring. He is batting as if there won't b any other chance to get a century. If Dravid & Karthick can score quicker than him there are serious doubts.

Dear MK,
Im sensing double standards here..

The following is with the view that the vouching is for a middle order position for Laxman(which is obvious for thats where he is best).
Lets start the dialogue stating the assumption- we choose 5 batsmen in the team, which shall be later also dwelved over.

You criticise politics in Indian cricket but cant flush it off from within..
Why wasnt the question - Sachin vs Laxman as is Ganguly vs Laxman ? With the apolitical ideology being professed in the article it seems rather hypocritical when Ganguly has performed well, atleast recently. The only scrutinizable aspect may be - the selfish play insinuations against him (in the world cup), but atleast he was selfish, what about others? Neither self nor team could motivate them enow. So Laxman replacing Ganguly in a 5 bat squad seems a bit fancy. The question might well be up against Sachin.

For a compltely different reason -
Sachin (to his credit) seems completely oblivious of the drama about his slow S/R, struggle against B'desh bowling and hard-working-long innings, which irritate the media/viewers more than anything else.
Its probably a team ploy, and personally I think Shastri has a lot to do with it. If his admiration of Sachin during commentary stints was anything to go by, he has let Sachin be!, to do whatever on the crease to help him resurge. I wont blame Shastri and Co. either, because if HE gets back to the Sharjah ways of '98..or even half way there ...well do I need say..these are the perks of being the best in a genration that is aging now(sport-ingly). Therein lies the heartache for Laxman presently. He is confronted with a in-form Ganlguly and hopefully-re-rising champion. But because it is the think tank's 'hope' that Sachin might resurface there is room for Laxman's case, and apparently, the 'Management' has made its choice for the moment.
Think of this as a strengthened bench strength rather than a missed trick because it seems like a coin flip decision.

The Dwelve -
Need for the 5th bowler has been felt so many a times abroad. Repeatedly, we as viewers have felt, "if only we had picked one more bowling option" (which was a reasonable point to ponder).
Being within the team on most of those occasions, Dravid clearly feels it to be the best option too, and where better to try it than in Bangladesh.
But it would hurt to see him revert to '6bat-4bowl' strategy right after the first test is 'if-lost' in England.

May Rahul stand steady, and by himself ! as is the inherent nature of a ROCK.

email : amitkhanna49@yahoo.com

It should be Wasim Jaffer who must be axed and Guatam Gambhir given a chance in stead. It is all a Mumbai policy of keeping Mr.Pawar and the Bombay boys happy. Gambhir has scored well when given a chance. Jafffer on teh contrary has just a few good innings.....too few n far between. As far as Ganguly's form is concerned he's been peerless. To drop him in favor of Laxman would be a folly. Perhaps Sachin should now be told to pack up or return to his old glory days, rather than occupying his spot merely cos he's Sachin. We also need to groom our bowlers n tell them to boel flat out rather than have Batting coaches instructing bowlers to drop pace for line n length. Maybe we can drop all of Sachin, Dravid n Sourav n build on a team for the future like Yuvaraj, Sehwag, Karthik, Gambhir, Dhoni...... I say get rid of deadwood like Sachin

I'm sorry, but you've got it all wrong about the team selection. The presence of politics in almost every aspect of Indian cricket has never been doubted, so all in all your article though cogent, neatly avoids the real issues, and will appease only the star-obsessed fans.

Here's something to think about:
Name--------------------Age
Anil Kumble-------------36 years 221 days (say 37)
Saurav Ganguly----------34 years 322 days (say 35)
Rahul Dravid------------34 years 135 days
Sachin Tendulkar--------34 years 32 days
VVS Laxman--------------32 years 206 days (say 33)

After their woeful and controversial performances in the world cup, it is hard to understand why, despite being directed (apparently) by the BCCI, the selectors did not chose a younger side for this series. They got it right by dropping Sehwag, but even there they compromised and put him in the ODI squad. Selection should not be about compromises, it should not be about appeasing the public or preventing riots. Selection should be the art of choosing your most appropriate players (from a central pool) for appropriate matches. Of all the above players I listed, only Dravid and VVS should have been picked for this tour, Dravid because he is captain and VVS because he was vice captain on the last tour and deserves a permanent spot (particularly after the alleged shenanigans of the other senior players in the world cup). Kumble perhaps does not deserve to be in /that/ senior group because its hard to not see him give his all, but there is no point in playing our best spinner against Bangladesh.

Yes we are playing Bangladesh, and yes they beat us in the world cup, but this isn't exactly in the same league as the aussie's ashes revenge. This was an opportunity to bring out and prime the younger batch, it should not be the get-out-of-jail card for Sachin and Saurav. Sashtri, for all his talk (while commentating) about encouraging youth has hypocritically ended up complimenting the system. If Yuvraj really is on the fringes of team because he is the next best in India, then he should have played in this series. Where is Piyush Chawla? We need to prime him, anyone who saw him in the U-19 world cup against pakistan will realize that give guidance, direction and opportunity, he will be among the best, if not the best, of spinners in the near future.

The opportunity has been wasted, the series might have even been exciting if we had sent a younger squad. Personally I believe Sachin should go back to domestic cricket, and if he can prove he's still among the 11 best, he should return. Australia do it very often, Hayden (more than once), Martyn, Clarke all came back stronger.

Oh, and I did notice Mukul, that you actually referred to an Aussie as matchless! I'm glad the world cup has made you swallow some pride (or is it prejudice?)

I think VVS is not in a good form.The team management has done the right thing by not picking him up.Ganguly has fought his place in the team.Let VVS do that with a string of good scores whenever he gets a chance in the first class games.Though Sachin is definitely not in the same league that he once was in, still he is the best batsman we have today and he still has to offer a lot for our country.Thsese two back to back centuries have come at the right time for him and this will help him and India to do well in UK

I'm reading all these comments from idiots trying to justify ganguly's place in the test team (die hard ganguly fans i'm assuming).

Did any of you actually watch the test series when India toured South Africa?? Previously when there was alot of commotion about ganguly's (dis)ability against the short ball, ganguly kept getting out by trying to pull short balls. In that particular series - he didn't get out to them, because he took most of the shots on the body! he was not in decent form, and was let of the hook a few times too.

Now on to the talk about facing fast bowling - have you watched laxman on fast bouncy pitches - he's one of the best players of the cut and pull, plus he can drive too (both sides of the wicket).

No way is dravid a better player against pace. Dravid is a more composed player (leaves a lot of deliveries and plays percentage cricket), if you saw what laxman did to brett lee in sydney (Jan 2004), you wouldn't doubt his ability against fast bowling.

The fact is, india has three very good players suited to the positions of 3,4,5 - dravid, tendulkar (his form on fast wickets can't really be decided till he heads to england) and laxman.

Ganguly should stick to the one day format (his one day and test average is pretty much the same - not a good thing) where they have the one bouncer rule.

Laxman should become an Australian citizen and play cricket for them. Clearly, the Indian team doesn't deserve someone of his caliber.

VVS is good and would have scored if given an oppurtunity.. but when it comes to 5 batsmen there are others who deserve to "fill their boots" before him. However personally I would have had Tendulkar dropped because he is not playing for the team for a while now and the paying public might keep away from hot , humid stadiums if he is batting these days

I think there is some politics in the team and I can say the biggest culprits are Rashul Dravid & Creig Chappel. These 2 have spolied the Indian Team. They are wasting the huge talent of VVS Laxman, Mohammed Kaif & Irfan pathan and same was done with Sreesanth even. Laxman & Kaif are performing for India better then anyone but still they are seated for the batsmen like Ganguly and Dinesh Mongia. Can anyone see the way Sachin is batting nowadays, poor-slow only looking to hit 100 that's it........If I was the selector I wild have dropped Rahul, Sachin & Ganguly. the only reason is because of these players the youngstar's are missing a chance in the team

Being Indian --- I'm sick of Indian Cricket Politics.

VVS Laxman who is rated as one of the best batsman by the Aussies (world champs for 10+ years) and lots of great cricketers, has been given VERY ROUGH treatment by BCCI, Ganguly, Dravid & Chappell for the last 3 years.

If VVS was from Bombay, think what might have happened ????

If I were VVS Laxman, I will announce my retirement & go public blast BCCI, Dravid, Chappel & Gnaguly in public. Then go to England play County cricket & retire peacefully.

Please read my

There is no way Laxman should be dropped based either on current form or past record. If you go by current form alone, Tendulkar should have been dropped. If you consider past record, Ganguly should have been dropped (Ganguly's average is 41).

Don't forget that Laxman's centuries / fifties have often resulted in India winning matches unlike Tendulkar's or Ganguly's. Those who don't agree check the records. Laxman and Dravid are the best slip fielders we have. Even diehard Tendular/Ganguly wouldn't dare to disagree.

Selection is because of political compulsions. Nothing more. Nothing less.

First of all, Laxmans recent Test record is not better than Gangulys. Sourav was the best batsman in the SA series, and he did a great job against Ntini & co. He also has a better record in England, and I think most people would agree that he is our best chance of negating the threat of Monty.

I dont think Dhoni and Karthik should be playing in the same team. I think Laxman should come in for one of them. Of course if he replaces Karthik there is the question of the opening combination. I think him or Dravid could easily open with Jaffer. In the last 2 years, Dravid has been batting within the first ten overs so often that he is virtually an opener anyway.

And finally, Laxman the best player of pace bowling in India? I know played beautifully in 2001-02 & 2003-04 but lets not forget that McGrath was missing from the 2nd of those series, and Brett Lee didnt play either of them. The Aussie pacers screwed his happiness in 2004-05 in India.

we should play 6 specialist batsman, and Dhoni
leaving four bowlers, karthik is still young, and i dont think he has the technique or the skill just yet to tackle good fast bowling (flintoff, lee) so i personally think this should be the order

Jaffar
Ganguly (ganguly has opened in the past) Dravid Laxman Tendulkar
Yuvraj Dhoni Kumble Sreesanth Zaheer Munaf

loads of batting and capable bowling
we dont need a second spinner
Kumble is good enough and we've got plenty of part timers like tendulkar, yuvraj...

I agree with MK. By looking at the previous perfomances of the past series i.e in South Africa, the first Test being a tricky one, the winning tempo was created by Ganguly, Laxman and Sreesanth in the first inning. Come the second inning, when most of our pampered stars failed with the bat, it was again Laxman who rescued the ship by scoring a half century and led us all the way to achieving first-ever test victory on South African soil. The matter of fact was that a test batsman do not necessarily have to score a century to be of a worthy perfomance but how he bats for the interest of his team is what stands out best.To me his half century knocks in the first test was a winning perfomance. According to my opinion, Laxman should have been included in the playing eleven for the second test in Bangla in place of Dhoni as Dhoni has not given any perfomance worth any attention leave alone the match winning one. The last time Dhoni performed well was in the test series in Pakistan more than a year ago when he led the team in achieving a draw by scoring a century. No doubt Dhoni is a good batsman. He is a good batsman in One day format but has not produced a good perfomance in test cricket for a long time while taking into conmsideration that test and one day formats are two very different aspects of cricket with their own set of rules and commitment. And to add more to this issue, the team has able wicket keeping skills in Karthik. Since setting his feet in international cricket, Laxman has always been on the recieving end of injustice meted out by Selectors and BCCI as whole

Anybody who has played any form of serious cricket would know what VVS is.

VVS saved / won India a number of games even after the two famous Australian series.

I can't remember Ganguly playing a single match saving / winning knock.

I think VVS should retire and become a commentator.

VVS Laxman should have long ago left Indian cricket and play county cricket. In a warm up match he could have beaten India hollow! That would've been a fit reply!

Personaly, I am not a big fan of the 5 bowler formation, unless atleast one is an allrounder in the Flintoff, Oram or Shane Watson mould. 5 bowlers would expose the tail too soon esp with the ball seaming around on the first day of an English (or Australian or SA) greentop.

Laxman does seem to be an easy scapegoat for the Indian selectors. While he has played some memorable knocks, he has never quite achieved the status of Dravid or Tendulkar due to lack of consistency. Best batsman of pace bowling....hmmm - I'm not sure he's better than Dravid, but he is miles ahead of the likes of Tendulkar (of late) and Ganguly. He is probably our best second innings batsman and a fine slip fielder (as was noted in the article).

On current form, my test 11 would be Gambhir, Jaffer, Dravid, Laxman, (2 of either Tendulkar, Ganguly or Yuvraj depending on conditions and fitness), Kartik, Sreesanth, Munaf, Zaheer & Kumble. Dhoni does not find a place in my test team simply because of his failure to score outside the subcontinent. Pawar is simply outclassed by Kumble. It will be interesting to see what Manoj Tiwary and Piyush Chawla have in store for us!

Hi Mukul,
Another misty eyed bigoted article from the best known site for Ganguly bashing. Last time I checked, South Africa was home to some good fast bowlers bowling on good fast pitches. And from what I did see, Ganguly and Laxman had equal opportunities to score there. Ganguly's 46 in the second innings of third test was setting the match up for India, while the Sachin and Laxman ran scared shitless to come out and face Ntini, Nel and co. bowling with the new ball at 6 for 2. Guess whose bat did the talking then? Do you remember what the "second best player" of fast bowling, not to mention "Bradman" did after Ganguly got us out of jail? An inconvenient truth which would undoubtedly expose the double standards of voicing support for Laxman as well as bickering about political compulsions of team selection, don't you think?
If you really are so concerned about picking the team on current Test match form, why not compare Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly and Bradman's average and performance in South Africa? Maybe you'll understand the exact nature of the "politics" as some of the more astute readers have already pointed out here.

Dropping laxman 4m bangla series... very good idea.Plss continue da same thing for all rest of series vs AUS,SA,WI,PAK.... U'll find da diff..wat happens if laxman is not in the test squad." U'll know da importance of laxman in test cricket if u watch da matches ".Jst blindly dont compare him with other's stats.I'm not a laxman fan ,i'm a fan of indian cricket....

Hi guys, india is too big than laxman ganguly and tendulkar, accept fact they were good player and not anymore.

Karthik , dhony,Yuvraj, tiwari,gambhir is future have potential just not getting chance because of these dada's so bat for them;

Please do not touch karthick, raina due to attitude which is very rare in indian narrow minded crickters.

Mukul, I agree with you on some counts. VVS is indeed a very fine player, an artist in Azhar mould. However, how can you justify dropping Saurav after the last test series in SA where he topped the averages against one of the better fast bowling attacks. He may not be the best player of fast bowling but he did show great application and that is what test cricket sometimes is about.
According to me Rahul, Sachin and Saurav could not have been dropped from the current series. If he indeed is a better batsman than Karthik then he should take up the challenge of opening the innings. A good batsman will be good anywhere and if karthik can do it so can he.
That said, I still think he is one of the better batsman in the world however he is unlucky to be in the wrong country with one of the stongest middle orders (at least on paper).

Well done Sachin on your 37th ton. Pity that of the four batsmen to make centuries, this was the slowest. One would expect that as the game goes on batsmen will score faster. Strange that at a score of 500 + he and Ganguly put on the slowest partnership. When will these guys play in the team's interest which surely at this stage must be to score runs QUICKLY to give the bowlers the max time to take the 20 wickets.

Are the two icons, T & G, playing for team India or for themselves. It increasingly looks like the latter.

Rest both for some more time. Their long stints in the middle are good for neither them nor team India.

Why people do not question about other's continuity in the team. Did Mr. Ganguly played in the SA series second match. What about the other front line batsman in that loosing match. They are still in the current team playing for India and the batsman who scored a 50 plus in the loosing match is still not given oppurtunity. Therefore the theory is that, you score slowly and remain not out until your bowlers come to bat and loose match, you get dropped for further matches and series. Other players who loose their wickets early in a lost match are selected for playing team. Great selection theory. How many chances Mr. Dada is been given despite low scores. Please do remember that Dada and Tendulkar are playing for themselves and for their sponsors and not for the team any more. Dravid is now joined in their bandwagon. They are also teamed up with manager who was an individualistic player when he was playing for the National team. Great team combination and management. BCCI wakeup.... before it is too late. Time to review and have players in the team on a rotation bais with playing coniditions which will lead to their automatic disqualification if they do not perform even in one match. Otherwise we see players like Mr. Wasim Jaffer who is consistenly scoring in the last match of the seires so that he will be selected for the next series automatically. Look at series in West Indies, SA series and now even with Bangladesh.

VVS is the typical "clutch" player. A professional who performs most when it is required. To drop him and treat him shabbily reflects the general disregard we have for match winners and the high "unreasonable" regard we have for the accumulators and record seekers.

We play to win. Pick players who stand up when it is wanted the most. Ganguly, Sachin - thank you, you did good job, now, please make way.

Once again...forget Ganguly and Laxman, oh yea Tendulkar too! It's time for Kaif and Yuvraj to step up and take more responsibility. And the Bangladesh tour is the best opportunity to nurture our future stars!

I don't know if VVS should have played or not but what I do know is that Mukul you are no one to suggest that Yuvraj cannot ever be half the test batsmen Ganguly is - what nonsense where did you conjure up this rubbish - shows that you have a strange and a bit warped mind at work!! First give Yuvraj a CHANCE to prove himslef - if he get's as many oppurtunities Ganguly or Sachin have had you may have to eat your hat!

Nirbhay Singh.

Let us not forget who lost us the world cup. We need players who play for the team/country. We do not need players who play for their averages and records irrespective of the situation. I do not care whether it is Tendulkar, Ganguly or Laxman. I want players who play for the team's cause like Aussies and be ready to throw the wicket when needed. Or else, it will be usual "Operation succesful, but the patient is dead".

Laxman is a victim of indian politics. If Ganguly is dropped right from West Bengal Chief Minister to the Speaker of Indian parliment may big noises, people in Bengal create abig uproar and the communists even force the government to see that Ganguly is included in the Indian team. Whereas if Laxman is dropped no boby speaks about it or supports him, in his own state are any where else. This is just an example of how strong PR / support from politicians can make Ganguly be part of the team. When was Laxman given a chance to prove himself? He is always used in go between times. If any matches are there with smaller / smallest teams like Bangladesh, Ireland etc, Ganguly, Tendulkar , etc are made to play. These people than score centuries and are projected as demi-gods. Compare Ganguly's record against Australia, South Africa, West Indies against Laxman's record. Even a small child can know that Dada is worst. If anyone is supporting Ganguly it is only because ONE BENGALI SUPPORTS ANOTHER BENGALI or the supporter is another communist from communist Bengal. .

Laxman is the favourite fall guy in Indian cricket. A player who has more often than not been instumental in Indian victories has to vacate his place for high profile non-performers like Sachin & Saurav. Both Sachin & Saurav are top class examples of the undeserving occupying places which rightfully belong to more committed performers like Laxman. MK is right when he hints that Sachin & Saurav would have proven their 'extraordinary' prowess against B'Desh & players like Laxman have to prove their mettle or even their place in the side by playing aginst teams like England, South Africa or Australia. It is another matter that invariably Laxman comes out trumps compared to Sachin or Saurav when it comes to playing a role in winning a match !

VVS LAXMAN is the one of d worlds greatest batmen
DRAVID is responsible 4 all going on we dont require
2 wicket keepers in test side more over both r very agressive players, best fit in one day side ,one hv 2 b kept a side .
VVSlaxman sir come back 2 team made me very happy but this dirty politics going on is very bad

Laxman may not be as great as Sachin,Sourav and Dravid. But He can be given some chance to get good practice against teams like Bangladesh to come back in to form. I think we recall him only when the pressures are high and put additional pressure on him to do well. I think he needs some encouragement instead of criticism.

Whew..... so many comments against so many people.

Hey... u know what?? Shastri is the only brain in Indian cicket (those who think this view is wrong: name 1 commentator who is on the telly irrespective of the channel beaming the match LIVE...like DD, Star, Zee, Ten...). He's all over the place thanks to his shrewd thinking. Have u guys heard him out patiently? Try it once. He's the best strategiser (as I would like to place his position) any team can get. BCCI heads make note. His thinking is a class apart.

Club this with Dravid's example as a performer at the lead. That's enough motivation for any team member to perform. Under the circumstances if the others don't rally around....switch channels by all means.

Coming to VVS, the guy isn't given a decent continuous run. He's OFF now ON then... I agree he's one of the best Indian batsmen. PLEASE show TENDULKAR & GANGULY the way back to their homes. They've done enough for the country and themselves. Rest them forever.

Shastri, Robin, Venky are the best bet for the team. Players should come & go....

Just quickly, if there is one reason Laxman should be picked it is the off chance that he might play an innings like he did against Australia when he and Dravid destroyed the Aussies. I would kill to see two batsmen play like that again.

It seems you went way off reality in your post. Laxman the best player of fast bowlng n India?? when did this happen!!??

Obviously it seems you revere Laxman a lot (to the point of it completely lacking objectivity). When was the last time Laxman scored consistently and won a match for India? Occasional 50s, 60s and 70s are not good enough as he had gotten into a terrible habit of getting. The problem with Laxman is that he perenially he has been the one with "prodigious potential" but only a few times such as in Kolkatta (which was eons back) has he actually realized this potential. One cannot live on past glories alone as another reader has pointed out very correctly. Please be more objective in your posts.

Why 5 bowlers in Bangladesh? Well, do you want to kill 4 bowlers in this kind of weather? All ye folks just writing comments here - have you tried bowling 10, just 10 overs in a day in humid climes?

For sure, only 4 will play in England - and not just because of the weather ;). Its a pity about Pathan.

I cannot imagine how any sane cricket captain or selector can pick Ganguly over Laxman or for that mattter the waning Tendulkar, let us not even talk about Karthik or Jaffer. A lot of people think Ganguly played well in South Africa and
keep quoting his average. I watched the second innings of the second test in South Africa. I watched Ganguly bat and should I say I was embarassed as an Indian supporter the way he played, he got his runs thru streaky edges and I saw him make one wild swing with not a clue of what he wanted to do. VVS was at the other end and the commentator Bishop I think said that VVS should farm all the strike. Bishop went on to comment that "There should be an easier way to make a living."

Life is not fair and seems to be more unfair to Laxman. We still don't seem to reward merit, this would not happen in a team like Australia. I wish they had a 10 match test series in Bangladesh, Ganguly and Tendulkar could get all the hundreds they need on the flat pitches and retire soon, this is not to devalue Bangladesh, they are a pretty good side as they already showed in the world cup.

some body wrote that only ganguly have the good record against australia,it is wrong i will make it correct,the only person who scored 5 100 s against aus in aus is Very very special laxman,the forgotten hero of indian cricketers ,time will tell that when we tour aus in dec .the only man is laxman,all other players acan only play against bangladesh not against aus.

Actually, I raised this issue of Laxman in the last test match and the author conveniently ignores the subtleties pointed out by me. In any case, Laxman needs to be in the team and both Tendulkar and Ganguly need to slug it out one for the opener's slot (which Kartik has done admirably well) and one for the middle order spot.

Laxman is perhaps the most unlucky and unfortunate player to have ever represented India. India has always turned to Laxman in crisis situations both overseas and at home and have shunted him up & down the order according to the team management's convenience whereas lesser players have boosted their aggregate and average playing against weaker teams.

A player of Laxman's class and caliber comes once a blue moon and if anything India would only regret the day he calls it quits ! If only he had been given a consistent run and the confidence to boot, Laxman would have been next only to Gavaskar and Tendulkar in the history of great Indian Test Batsmen.

If at all there is any consolation for Laxman for this harsh treatment that has been meted out to him time and again, its that he has at least been treated not as badly in Tests as he has been in the One-Day arena. What a pity !!

the worst politics am seeing in cricket, i thought dravid is fine man, his attitude wise, but now am coming to a conclusion, that he wants to stabilise as a captain, he has forgot how he was paired with laxman with many match winning inninges with laxman,
as now most of them has done their centuries against bangla,now the considers that they are the best and try to continue in the further series.this is the worst part, consider the talent in laxman,or else it will become a worst to the indian team, because the people cannot play against the fast pitches in england , australia,and south africa.

I do not understand why people write onthese issues. It is very clear that the 3 or 4 middle order plaes will be filled from within Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman & Yuvraj. Hence, either 1 or 2 of these guys have to sit out. It is simple - Laxman has to open if he wants to maintain his place. Thsi he should have done long back.

Just one thing, Mr. Keshavan. Ganguly fared better than Laxman in the Test series in South Africa -- even in testing conditions, on quick wickets. Ganguly was compact in that Test series. Also, Ganguly has a better record than Laxman in England.

Your arguments are sound... except that the reason why the six-batsmen philosophy has worked for Australian is that they had Warne and McGrath. Let's see how things pan out, now that the two have retired.

Also, Laxman perhaps needs to replace Mr. Tendulkar on the same grounds that you mention. Consider the master blaster's recent record on foreign tours. Laxman seems more compact in technique (see the number of times Tendulkar has been clean-bowled in a Test match in the past 4-5 years). Also, Laxman is a more reassuring presence at the crease than Tendlya, at the moment.

It doesn't matter if Laxman is India's best batsman against fast bowling or not. Simply ask the Australian's who they fear the most?

Just as I thought the Indian management got some sense - picking Laxman as vice captain, they have gone and dropped him for no fault of his. It just continues to show that they do not care about an individual, Pathan being another example of the same nonsense. The Australians will drop you if you don't perform, you can choose to fight back, but either way you are IN or OUT - not in and out all the time!

Just wanted to add, while Laxman Averaged 36 V Gangully's 43 - Laxman scored a match winning 100!

VVS has time and again been made as scapegot for the whims and fancy of the team management. One can hope that he is not being neglected (fall guy?) and will pay play against the tuffer opposition like England (in England), Austrialia and South Africans. Have anyboxy seen VVS playing the game for his exclusive benefit (scoring centuries only) as is usually done by Great Scion of Indian Cricket i.e. Tendulkar and Ganguly. The selectors will never learn from past mistakes and will take Indian cricket into dooms if no corrective measuers are taken immediately to remove these "Greats" from the Indain Team.

Match Winners: When they hit, they win matches. But they hit less often.

Consistent Batsmen: They may not win matches all the time, but they score something to save the match first and score in some to win matches too.

VVS & Virendra Sehwag may be a Match winners, but we definitely need consistent batsman who can score runs most times and save matches.

Ideally, we need a combination of consistent batsmen and also match winners. The question is whether to drop consistent batsmen when they are not in form or drop match winners when they are not in form.

It is a difficult question to answer, but I feel the current selection is alright as we need to give some easy matches for Sachin & Ganguly so that they can play freely in upcoming difficult matches as they are match winners too and far more consistent then VVS and Virendra Shewag.

Like how we cannot continue to bank on old laurels of Sachine & Saurav, we cannot bank on the two important knocks of VVS.

When the top 4 become more consistent, we can have a match winner as the 5th batsman. When the consistency is poor overall, then we are forced to have the people who are the most consistent among the available pool. This is exactly the reason why Dravid is forced to go in for 5 specialist bowlers as our bowlers are not consistent enough to win matches for us.

To me, the effect this might have had on Laxman's psyche is more disturbing than anything else. Over the past two years he has pretty much known that he would be the fall guy whenever "young blood" and 5 bowlers became catch words. I think this was seen clearly in his batting, where he was starting to grind out his runs rather than play his normal game. I thought I saw a return to those ways in South Africa, perhaps because of the confidence the team management showed in him by appointing him Vice-Captain. Yes, he was not the highest run scorer there, but the way he scored those runs, and the time they came at did make a significant difference to the outcome of those matches.

Fact is, Laxman is a year or so younger than the idolized trinity of Indian cricket, and will have play an important role in the rebuilding of Indian cricket, when the trinity (Dravid, SRT, SCG) retire. Especially if what Vengsarkar says about the talent cupboard being empty is true. Destroying his confidence at this stage is not going to help at all.

Keep in mind he is not suitable for one-day cricket either and that lessens the opportunities he gets to stay in public consicousness, thus increasing pressure on him.

To those of you who claim he has miles to go before getting near the trinity, well if averages where your criteria, keep in mind he spend quite a few years shoehorned into opening the batting, a role which did not fit him at all, subtract those years and it seems his numbers stack up pretty well given his role and where he usually bats. Those who say he cant play spin, take a look at the farcial Mumbai test against Australia (yes the one on the dustbowl) and take a look at who scored for India to make a win possible.

Dhoni has more ads than VVS so he is in team

Agree totally with the post. India cannot afford to have this combo against good opponent. They need an extra batsmen or allrounder.

Still feel that Pathan might be good in Tests until we find another allrounder who can better him. Pathan can be devastating with his swing in the new ball. He was belted in the one-days, but Test cricket is totally different.

Karthik should definitely be in the 11 as
1) hes proven quite a bit in 2 seasons both domestic and international
2) hes young and can be a good long term solution to Indias opening problem

I guess Rahul can't win. Dammed if you do and dammed if you don't. A little too much of extrapolating and crystal ball gazing in that piece. unfortunately there are only 11 places in the playing eleven. Someone is going to be unhappy!

Those who question Laxman's lack of consistency and compare his record with Tendulkar and Ganguly, should remember the fact that Laxman has had come to bat at No.6 and mostly if not always - in a crisis situation after the big three got out cheaply. Being dropped and ignored by the selectors more often than not, did not exactly help his confidence or form. Saying that he was unlucky is deny the fact that India's cricket establishment have always been short of vision and professionalism to build a world-class team. Had they done their job, we would have been revelling with many more Laxmans.
VVS - you will always be a VERY VERY SPECIAL batsman and a joy to watch.

Excellent write-up MK.

Why is it that whenever we get "analysis" on cricinfo, it is to blame Ganguly for all the ills of the world, call him rubbish and say he should be dropped. I agree Laxman should be in the team, but at the expense of Karthik, who has hardly had much success against anyone of note. And how can you trash ganguly's record against England? Check it and see who scored the runs. ganguly with 3 half centuries and a Hundred, or Laxman with one half century.

I'm presuming everyone has noticed at this point that our selectors are idiots. They seem to be very confused and not aware of how to pick proper teams. For the one days they were talking about a young team and picked dinesh mongia, who is far from young. They didn't even look at Kaif, who had been the best player in West Indies, while everyone around him was failing miserably.
Laxman has always been the one to be dumped on by the indian team and selectors. He is always the first one to be dropped if the need arises. he is the most feared batsman in the team for the aussies. They praise him more than sachin or any of the other greats who cannot be dropped. He is the one that has always taken the attack to the opposition.
I hope someone knocks the selectors upside the head and tell them to get their act right and choose the team despite the politics. Kaif should be in the one day squad. Laxman should be in the test team. Ganguly should be opening the one day innings and Shewag should be playing in the middle order in both formats, he has succeeded there.

Well said. With respect to Lakshman, I would not have even selected him given that he did not even show up for the camp. We all have heard about his general physical fittness. If playing 5 bowlers had been the prevaling option, why did they select Lakshman in the first place. They should have simply rested him (!) to be picked for harder series such as against England.

Laxman - best player of fast bowling in India ? come on, Dravid is the best in this Indian lineup when it comes to facing the quicks .. remember Headingley - 2002/03 or Jamaica - 2006 ?

well i am a proud australian.dear, Aditya Galgotia did you watch any of the 3 ODI hundreds VVS made against australia in australia in a span of 7 days?two of them were against aussies.one who got the worst treatment was of course brett lee?did you watch his 167 against aussies at sydney back in 99-00?do you know that he hit 50 runs of 4.2 overs of brett lee spell.have you seen how laxman treats mcgrath and warne?and the innings in which he scored 167 do you know how much did the much hyped indian batting line up scored?260 odd!!!!!!!and he scored those marvellous innings not against mortaze or rasel,but against one of the deadliest trio ever in the history of the game!well past is past lets forget it.
did you ever see his innings against west indies and south africa last year?they were simply match winning.
now just watch these stats of vvs laxman :
Mat Runs HS BatAv 100 50 W BB BowlAv 5w Ct St

unfiltered 80 4878 281 42.41 10 27 1 1/32 100.00 0 86 0
filtered 16 1457 281 52.03 4 6 0 - - 0 21 0

v Australia 16 1457 281 52.03 4 6 0 - - 0 21 0

in Australia 7 715 178 59.58 3 1 0 - - 0 7 0
in India 9 742 281 46.37 1 5 0 - - 0 14 0

in Asia 9 742 281 46.37 1 5 0 - - 0 14 0
in Oceania 7 715 178 59.58 3 1 0 - - 0 7 0

home 9 742 281 46.37 1 5 0 - - 0 14 0
away 7 715 178 59.58 3 1 0 - - 0 7 0
here is what steve waugh said about laxman :"If you get Dravid, great. If you get Sachin, brilliant. If you get Laxman, it's a miracle."
well his 281 against aussies at kolkata is ranked as the 6 th all timme greatest knock in the history of test cricket by wisden.he definitely is one among the all time greats in test cricket.what matters is not piling huge amount of runs but doing it consistently against best of the oppositions.well all i can say is thet totally unfair treatment mettled out to sir V V S LAXMAN.he really is a VERY VERY SPECIAL player.

This article is more in a political vein then anything else. Cricket is a game of 11 players. There have been numerous instances of good players not even getting a test debut. Why rave up controversies? Aren't there better things to do for the likes of the author and Amarnath? Laxman may be a good player, but there are a million others in India who weren't even considered in the squad.

Laxman has passed his prime. His fitness is suspect. Of late his fielding has become bad. He very often sees his stump cart wheeling when he faces a fast bowler. Players like Laxman should be forcibly retired by his non-inclusion in any Team

Laxman did play well against he Aissies. But this was ages ago. After that eclipse innings and a few in Australia he has been a pale shadow of himself. Inconsistency has been his drawback. A little more consisitency and he would have fitted into any team anytime. Ganguly has been more consistent and can change his tempo according to the requirements of the team. Laxman's tendency to play on the up has brought his downfall and he has never showed any sign of changing his style of play. Instead of talking about Saurav and Laxman it should be a race between laxman ans Sachin for the 5th batsman's spot. Scachin is the weak limk in the lineup now. We cannot select players on past glory. It was surprizing that Sacin chose to showcase his cause after a boring century against Bangladesh in the just concluded first test. For a man who is considered world's best batsman I think he should be looking at bigger goals.

everyone has said enough, so I wont say much on the story. Would have been better if the title was "Cant drop Sachin ever"!

It would have been good for Indian cricket if the author of this piece had spent sometime on finding out who will play and perform for India in 2 years time, rather than going round and round on ST, SG, VVS. Remember, even Yuvraj is on the bench!

I cant believe people saying Karthick should be both keeper and the opener so that our famous cricketers get the posh middle order slots for them!!

I dont agree with the Laxman trauma and all one... bit!! Just because the tests in this series went well, with Bangladesh not playing tests for so long, and their inexperience in tests (as a test nation), you are talking 'big-talk'!! Where was all this big talk and arguments when Bangladesh humiliated us in the world-cup?? Well no one cared that time, and thats the truth!! So it was not about big teams or small teams. When we prepared for this tour, we looked for the best possible combinations, and Ganguly fitted perfect here!! He is the better player of spin, and he was proven effective against Bangladesh earlier too. You have to choose the players who are best suited for each tour on that tour. Not produce a "best squad" and get the others benched. You are talking like an insane person, and trying to show Bangladesh down, when they were close to beating us in the first one dayer aswell, we won that almost by luck! and the second one also they did play well proving that they are not a bad side atall!! So I guess the conclusion is that you are all excited now because we won another match and are jumping all over the place again. And the next time we loose again, once again you, and all the others like you will go against all the best players getting them out of the team!! You people have no common sense whatsoever!! Your point should have been that if there is a match against a better test team, then Laxman should be included!! and i guess every one knows that any ways... Dravid is not dumb, and neither are the selectors. Stop making the country go wild and making the cricketers lives hell!!
-Peace

There are lot of morons who think VVS is not better than ganguly or tendulkar. These idiots have failed many times and still got chances, but how many chances did Laxman get to play after he did not score in a game. He would be dropped the first instance if he did not score. When tendulkar, ganguly or shewag fail few matches they are still persisted. What does it do to laxmans confidence. What happened in the world cup, if bcci persists with these idiots for some more time nobody is going to watch criket any more. Check how many catches laxman has dropped and how many gunguly and tendulkar dropped. Whoever says gunguly and tendulkar are best read the world cup articles and scams these guys did to stay at the crease and in the team.

I am not sure I agree that more penetration is the idea behind five bowlers. In fact, its probably the opposite. Dravid knows that 4 bowlers are unlikely to get him 20 wickets on a regular basis and hence needs to go with 5 bowlers.

I do agree that Laxman should be picked ahead of Ganguly though. And Kaif should be next in the pecking order, not Yuvraj. Come the England series though, we'll probably see Laxman restored to the side in place of the second spinner, with Ganguly filling in a few overs with his seam-up stuff.

i reckon laxman is the best after tendulkar in indian team.if he batted at number three 2003 & 2007 world cup scenario would have been diffrent.If he is in good touch he is one of the best bastmen of the world specially against tougher situation.

is it just me or has the place of dhoni been overlooked? kartik can clearly bat and so can dhoni but against the best and when struggling technique counts and i dnt think dhoni has it. surely vvs can replace him, then we can have close to six batsmen and five bowlers. at the moment we dont have enough wickets takers and five bowlers could be a short term answer, however in the long term we should look at why we cant take 20 wickets with four bowlers like top teams do!

I agree with Mukul Kesavan. On balance, Laxman has always played well in conditions that favour bowlers. The mess that the selectors have made in India (and petty/ego politics) has made me realize that I am better of supporting Kenya and New Zealand rather than support team India. In fact, I would recommend that Laxman migrates to NZ and begins anew. Perhaps teach our Indian selectors a lesson by scoring a few triple centuries against India.

Seems to me we can't see the wood for the trees. Why should Karthik not be played as a keeper as well,ie, groomed as a Farokh Engineer? Drop Dhoni and make him fight for that opener slot ? VVS could then have walked in. This is what the Auusies would have done, no sentimental rubbish in their thinking...

Sacrilege! Speaking out against the Great Dada. Calcutta Telegraph sack you or what?

MK, stop masquerading as Simon Scholes or any other Aussie. No need to back up a fallacious argument with numbers of yore. Let the recent past do the talking for VVS.

Its very heartening to see so many people supporting Laxman.
He deserves the respect he gets.
Everyone who likes Laxman ,dont worry..he will be back and playing in the next tour.our cricket team management can't even "pee" without him against those teams.
Someone pointed out that Laxman form is on wane after 281 six years back..thats not true..he played exceedingly well after that till 2003..but when he was dropped for 2003 world cup and "obscure" Dinesh Mongia( he can't hold his BAT properly if u observe) was picked ahead of him b'coz of the strong North India faction in our selectional panel..Laxman was really down then..
Laxman is a great player..but he would have done even better in both forms of the cricket..would have been captaining india.. had it not been for dirty politics .. he was always targetted b'coz he is a gentleman with out any god-fathers..
If he is not as talented as he is ..he would not have made it to india team ..

VVS isn't such a great batsman as it is made out to be. Apart from a one off against OZ he has hardly bothered other opposition. It's futile to argue his case as he has, in my opinion, had plenty of chances to show his mettle-consistenly- and failed. Five bowlers usage in Bangladesh was a trial as the flat wickets would have overburdened the four bowlers. Simply that-no more. England will pose a harsher trial for the bowlers and batsmen and India need to select a very good squad -which should not include Sehwag.

First of all, they shouldn't have picked Laxman in the first place for Bangladesh. I think he is not physically fit as he was down with fever and ill health as was reported. But, if you pick a player like Laxman, his place should be in the playing 11 and not outside. He should have been rested for this series and allowed him to recover fully as we have the England tour coming up for which Laxman's experience is needed. Laxman has always been made the scapegoat when it comes to chosing the team as the record clearly shows that he has been a proven match winner. How can you not have one of the best batsman India have ever produced warming up the bench against a team like Bangladesh ? He could have easily added to his no. of centuries just like the other senior batsmen in the team. Moreover, he would have been in the best of forms before embarking on a difficult tour of England. Well, the script has already been written, in case we fail there, Laxman will never get to play again for India, because the selectors will need a scapegoat and Laxman will have to stick his neck out to have it chopped. Mukul Kesavan's article is absolutely on target, but, who's listening and who cares....

I do not find anything bad with 5 batsmen and 5 bowlers. Australia can do with 4 bowlers because they are penetrative. India would need 5 to dislodge the opposition.

I would argue that it is not Ganguly but Dhoni that needs to be swapped with Laxman, if Karthik is deemed the opener.

Laxman is the only batsmen now who can play well against fast bowling. Look at what Dravid achieved during his first tour to Australia. Dravid is a flat track bully. Let us not forget that. He is not the best batsmen that some people claim. Last time he scored in Australia because McGrath was not there, the pitches were flat.

most of sourav ganguly's recent 'good form' has consisted of innings coming under circumstances where there hasn't really been that much pressure on the batsmen. in south africa, he gutsed it out, but was found out each time the ball was up near his throat. there were two tame dismissals in the second test. and the one match we did in south africa, who played the vital innings? sure, ganguly's first innings fifty helped by the tail added a few crucial runs, but the truly matchwinning innings was laxman's second innings seventy odd... and he's done that sort of thing plenty of times even if you don't count those two series in 2001 and 2003. he played a couple of important innings against west indies recently as well, and he scored a century batting at three against sri lanka when they visited in 2005, as well as a typically wristy 79 in the previous test. he's a man who will score runs when they really matter, and i think he deserves to be given a couple of soft matches against bangladesh on flat wickets for all the pressure that has been unfairly heaped on him over the years by a thoroughly commercial minded board, the pressure they have put on selectors which has affected the functioning of the team management as well. if someone needs to be dropped, it's most likely a mild mannered, non-controversial gentleman cricketer, so kumble and laxman become scapegoats. kumble being head and shoulders above the pretenders has meant that he's pinned down a test spot at least. rahul dravid is a mild mannered, non-controversial gentleman cricketer too, but he's also arguably the world's best batsman, so there's no way you can drop him. so what happens is, laxman has to perform every single day, every match, and even one failure means bye-bye. he gets picked for one one dayer in south africa, fails, and is never picked again; while suresh raina, dinesh mongia, gautam gambhir etc. are given chance after chance and never seem too far away from selection even if they haven't scored a fifty in five or six matches. laxman has to watch all this sitting at home, and then when the tests come, he plays one great innings, and someone else plays a reasonably good innings, or sachin tendulkar loses form; and laxman's performance doesn't get talked about. so if he fails in the next innings, it looks like he's not scored runs in ages. result: watch his face whenever he's batted in recent times. what do you see? a worried man, unsure of his place in the side, despite knowing fully well that some men who get picked ahead of him aren't fit to lace his batting boots. i can't see how this situation can be mended, as too much damage has been done to this man, who should have been one of the shining stars of his generation. the one thing that can force him back into the limelight is a special backs to the wall ton, something he's very capable of. so come the england tour, we may yet see another very very special knock.

I don't think that dropping Laxman was the best thing to do. It would have been easier to drop either Kartik or Jaffer and include Laxman, because Laxman is surely better than these other two batsmen. Laxman should open in this case.

there is no wrong in drooping ganguly .once go back and look at his carrer . he was the excellent batsman in the indian side he is an experinced batsman and there is no wrong in dravid in drooping laxman .so we must not forget that ganguly is the the highest in the world in the matter of one-day centuries and he won two times the best captanicy by the icc in the year 2003-2004 and 2004-2005

Just like most of people supporting laxman even i do.without any doubt he is miles miles better than ganguly in Tests.There are more than a few who are posting that ganguly is a better Test batsman than laxman( guy's give me a break).seriously i dont remember any spl innings from ganguly against a quality seam attack except the one in brisbane even on that day Laxman's 75 gives more pleasure while watching.
Its absolutely politics which resulted in selection of ganguly over Laxman.some one said karthick is a far better keeper that dhoni.DO u actually know that...karthick is a pretty ordinary keeper he was even dropped from chennai squad for his poor keeping.Do u think indian management or the team is so stupid to keep dhoni is wicketkeeper ahead of karthick.Those whoever who think karthick is fine keeper please check his records for chennai.From the beginning karthick is a keeper with a good ability to bat.He is not a rodney marsh or kirmani.

Well, they'll stone ya when you're trying to be so good
They'll stone ya just a-like they said they would
They'll stone ya when you're tryin' to go home
Then they'll stone ya when you're there all alone
But I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned.

Well, they'll stone ya when you're walkin' 'long the street
They'll stone ya when you're tryin' to keep your seat
They'll stone ya when you're walkin' on the floor
They'll stone ya when you're walkin' to the door
But I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned.

They'll stone ya when you're at the breakfast table
They'll stone ya when you are young and able
They'll stone ya when you're tryin' to make a buck
They'll stone ya and then they'll say "good luck"
Tell ya what, I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned.

Well, They'll stone you and say that it's the end
Then they'll stone you and then they'll come back again
They'll stone you when you're riding in your car
They'll stone you when you're playing your guitar
Yes, but I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned.

Well, they'll stone you when you walk all alone
They'll stone you when you are walking home
They'll stone you and then say you are brave
They'll stone you when you are set down in your grave
But I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned.

Hi Mukul,

After a long time, I am very happy to see an article with facts. Yes, LAXMAN’s exclusion from Indian team is definitely a political move. In fact, VVS is unlucky many times and he is becoming a scapegoat for all the problems or political issues.

I think only the sponsors can help only Laxman’s fate. I think his media manager is not an aggressive man, he is not being picked both in ODI and TEST because he was not a popular figure in Media/Indian market like Sachin, Ganguly, Dhoni and Dravid.

BCCI selecting players based their income from the sponsors. It is true that both Sachin and Ganguly holding their place just because of their contracts with sponsors and contacts within BCCI officials. World cricket knows that Laxman is a world class batsman and a match winner. Unfortunately, BCCI and Indian companies do not believe and they are ignoring Laxman many times.

Laxman must be selected both in ODI and TESTs, he is a very good slip fielder too. Playing in Balgadesh and making centuries is really a not a big deal. Sachin, and Ganguly making centuries to get more money from the sponsors, not because of they want to play for India. If you ask Sachin, he will agree that Laxman is the better player than him. Laxman was sidelined just because of Sachin, he came to know that only one person that has capacity to keep him in the dark is Laxman. Hence, he moved his pawns and made sure that Laxman has not place in ODI’s first and later in TESTs too.

I think Laxman should come out and speak to Media about all these dirty internal politics and explain Media and BCCI about these issues. Otherwise, no one is going to care about his future cricket. One more interesting fact is Indian Cricket is being ruled by Bombay team/management. Vegsarkar, Sachin, Jaffer, Zaheer, Powar, Agarkar, and many… If you have 15, there will be 10 from Bombay. Why?

After this article published, hope BCCI should revisit their selection process and keep Laxman both in ODI and TEST for next 10 matches continuously so that he can show the real results. Once again thanks to Mukul for writing about SIR VVS LAXMAN.

Pert Steve Waugh said about Laxman :"If you get Dravid, great. If you get Sachin, brilliant. If you get Laxman, it's a miracle

Thanks
Krishna Prasad Rao– a great fan of Laxman
Detroit USA.

All Said and Done BCCI is still persisting with the bunch of jokers , Dirty Politicians and Sick Management that is evident with the way the team composition is planned. Hope it Improves someday after the Indian cricket League.

Laxman is not in the team for two reasons: (1) He doesn't play for Mumbai, (2) He is a silent low-profile guy who knows just how to play cricket. But in India politics comes first, cricket second. We were so obsessed with our Big three that we completely ignored this wonderfully gifted cricketer. I think India lost about 3000-4000 runs because he was the easiest guy in the team to toss out and toss in at the selectors' convenience. Its sad that cricketers and people from countries like Australia seem to recognize hsi ability and achievements greater that us to whom he belongs. He is not the first cricketer lost to India and he won't be the last. And that's the failure of Indian cricket.

Dravid, Karthik, Jaffar, Laxman, Kumble, Sreesanth... Say, why don't we call this team Team Southern India? And let's get rid of all Eastern players while we're at it... Oh ok, Jharkhand's nearly there, so Dhoni's in. Grow up, Kesavan, this ain't club cricket. You can't pack the side with the skipper's mates.

Ha ha ha. Like I said before (Ctrl+F, search for "Goya" please) Here they are people. The brilliantly and objectively analytical bhadralok strike back - comments excerpted from above:

"Ganguly has proved what he is while VVS has still miles to cover even befor he reaches the toes of Ganguly...."

"Another misty eyed bigoted article from the best known site for Ganguly bashing."

Hilarious, sniff, really!! Problem is too many senior editors and journalists are of the same ilk. Thats where the truth ends and tragedy begins.

Any conclusions made because of performance in this series is ridiculous. It is still just Bangladesh. How many times do we see Indians making six centuries in two innings. Besides, Karthik was lucky to get his century. I wish him good luck but I doubt he will do well in England. Laxman and Yuvraj are unlucky to miss out, but there is a better case for Gambhir's selection in the team.

If the team is selected on merit basis i dont know why Tendulkar is still playing. Laxman has always been the guy to make way for someone or the other. I am not bothred if he does not make runs againts Bangladesh or Zimbabwe, but when the chips are down, he is the only man who play a knock which can destroy the opposition. Tendulkar and Ganguly should retire. Making centuries on flat tracks againt Bangla bowlers is no big deal. How many games have these guys won for us in the last few year? As far as Karthik goes, well we had guys like Das, Gandhi and Chopra striving on flat tracks but becoming a cropper abroad. Only time will tell, but i hope he is given a fair chance. And ofcourse we are in India and nothing is fair here. Everyother thing is politicied and have some quota system involved. I guess its time Laxman makes a statement and walkout of the unfair and corrupt system and ply his trade in England where he will be respected for what he is.

Dear Friends,

I am very very dissapointed with Mr. Kesavan for trying to create such a fuss. He of all people should have realised that there was no need to write such a blog. He didn't write this blog when Tendulkar and Ganguly was dropped from the one day side in favour of sehwag and others. And why write such a thing now?

I am not a selector, not a bcc member, not even a test player and none of either Mr. Kesavan or you senseless bloggers are. I am just a die hard indian cricket fanatic. But sane and possibly clever enough to know that it is stop-gap selection. That no indian test team can be complete without a fit vvs laxman. I am not saying he is the best indian batsman; never will be but he is special. Special enough to be a part of the test team till he retires.

But take into account the following scenarios:
1. laxman's recent lack of matches
2. his sickness which prevented him joining in the conditioning camp of the bangladesh tour
3.conditions in bangladesh - oppresive heat n humidity
4. ganguly's recent form in south africa

So, please everybody calm down, no need to panic. Dravid has not gone nuts, he will never play 5 batsmen n keeper against any other test plaing nation except for zimbabwe i guess. Bangladesh may have improved in one day cricket but they are miles and miles and one more mile away from anywhere near the standards of test cricket.

So i am 100% supportive of dravid's decision to play 5 bowlers to give them protection from the heat and humidity. Laxman will return for the series in england and thereafter.

Till then, if tendulkar with 14000 could be "rested" for odi's, laxman can sit out 2 inconsequential test matches in bangladesh.

And finally to Mr. Kesavan: there are other bigger and better topics which needs attention right now for the betterment of indian cricket please try and use your position to create more awareness for those topics instead of writing such provocative and not so relevant blogs.

I completely disagree...Laxman is in TERRIBLE form...he did NOTHING in West Indies or South Africa to get the opportunity to get selected, and Ganguly did...I don't like Ganguly at all...but he deserved his chance...

i woud suggest to VVS laxman that he has to give the statement like Ganguly that he is ready to penn the innings.(dirty politics)

Laxman is the best batsman ever to play for India!! Indian team management and selectors sucks!!

A very well thought out article which is exactly how you'd hope the selectors were thinking. What is Dravid afraid of? Why does he persist with players who don't have much gas in their tanks and have 'allegedly' not been of the greatest support in the Caribbean. Javagal Srinath lost some valuable cricketing time when Kapil was past his prime and ditto with Laxman. What baffles me is that Dravid who has been one of few Indian players who has battled against top teams overseas and come out on top cannot seem to understand that Laxman is a player in his mould. Actually Laxman might have an extra gear which makes batting on his day seem effortless and a thing of beauty. Wake up India, or you will just miss out on the best years of one of our gems.

I agree with what Mukul says in his blog, but for a couple of points. It is unfair to (dis)credit Greg Chappell with Irfan Pathan's decline. I believe Greg tried to do the best he could, pretty much like what Tom Moody tried with Sri Lanka, challenge every player in the team. Unfortunately, such methods cannot work with the "super stars" like Sachin or Saurav - like they keep telling us, they have nothing left to prove to anybody.
The second point I disagree with is the assessment that VVS is "perhaps India's best batsman against fast bowling". Where does that leave Rahul Dravid?

Further, in the current team, I would really like to see whoever bats at Nos. 4 and 5 bat like we remember them batting. Be it VVS, Sachin or Saurav, they no longer are fun to watch like they used to be. Their hunger for runs may remain, but the fashion in which they score them no longer provides any joy to those watching. With Sachin and Saurav, it almost seems like a huge effort to score their runs while with VVS, when he does get a chance, there is no flair, he bats like he knows he's under trial every time he goes out there.

Watching the WI being hammered by the English batsman makes one shudder to think of the Indian bowling and fielding effort when they go there.

Playing 5 bowlers isn't a long-term strategy for India in any case, since we need the extra batsman against quality opposition, so why unsettle the team? I would love to see the line-up thus- Jaffer, Kartik, Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman, Dhoni, Pathan, Kumble, Zahir, Munaf.

Couldn't agree more with Mukul's observations.

But then there's a history to the myopic thinking prevalant in Indian cricket that allows Ganguly to play ahead of Laxman in the Indian Test side.

Remember Jawagal Srinath?

Srinath spent the best years of his fast bowling life cooling his heels in the sidelines of the Indian side, when the one time great Kapil Dev lumbered on to catch up with Richard Hadlee's Test record haul.

Some people are more ependable than others. Srinath was one of them, and the same can be said of Laxman.

As much as Laxman's dropping (the poor fellow doesn't even get the fig leaf of being "rested") from the Test side, equally baffling is an out of form Sehwag's presence in the one-day side even as he is dropped from the Test team, and Ganguly's presence in the Test side just after he has been rested from the one dayers.

Virender Sehwag has found place in the one-day side, but axed from Tests, where his record as opening batsman has matched favourably with the game's all time greats.

And Sourav Ganguly arguably India's best one day batsman after the incoparable Tendulkar, was overlooked for the South Africa bound one-day dquad, but found himself in the Test team against the same opponents. And once again, against Bangladesh, rested from the one-day side, he is back in the Test team, ahead of VVS Laxman.

One would have thought it would be logical to play players in the format they were most comfortable with.

If there is a method (or even a process) in this madness, we all would love to be enlightened.

i think laxman is the best bastmen in the world.

Laxman should have been in the team. Period. But the person deserving the axe is Sachin rather than Saurav. Its easy to see why. Look at the recent test records, SA onwards, and you will see that Sachin has kept on struggling. Sourav, by and large has still played his role and done more. Fact is in SA tests and the world cup, Sourav was better than most other Indian batsman.

While you are right in telling Laxman should be in the team, its high team people stopped targetting Sourav instead; Sourav's presence in the team is based on ability, and to write that he is there only due to politics is to belittle the fighting spirit of the man himself.

In fact, blatant targetting of one of the few true fighters in the Indian team is the worst form of politicking.

i am completely baffled to see laxman sittin outta the side in both te tests.i wud rather say that laxman has been a victim of poor indian politics n "STAR STATUS".what are we going to achieve by allowing sachin to laboriously add on to the already illustrous career.sachin seemed a mere shadow of what he was in the past.even MORTAZA nad RASEL were made to look like MCGRATH n SHAUN POLLOCK.i cant see sachin scoring any runs against the english attack.even harmison struggling 4 form wud run into form against sachin.though i am a very great fan of him since m birth i cant help hiding these comments.it wud be rubbish to drop ganguly bcos he is the player in form n since his return he has run into a purple patch.another baffling thing is why have dhoni in the side when he is no good a keeper as karthik is n no good a batsman as laxamn is.he may have accomplished himself in the shorter version of the game but hasnt got a single substantial innings against "THE TOP TEAMS IN TRYING GREEN TOPS" to show off in his resume. except a few cameos here and there like today when he was expected to raise the tempo as he did today his test CV has been rather poor.even though karthik has not been tested on the same condition as i had said 4 dhoni he has performed well in whatever oppurtunity he has got.so going by the present form n takin into account d 5 bowler theory that rahul insists wud be required in these hard n difficult conditions i would have karthik at opening slot- atleast till he runs into a very bad patch or well n good if he settles into an accomplished opener 4 indian cricket in the long run-n have laxman in the place of DHONI.
Another strategy which threw me off guard was the slow progress which tendulkar made.he seemed too reluctant to go 4 the slog even after india got to a safe position.if it had been someone else batting in the place of tendulkar they wud have surely upped the tempo and india wud have declared @ tea wid d same runs if not more than that.even the normally sedate dravid seemed to go into an aggressive mode sensing the team's requiremnt.it has been this adapatability ,n sense of sacrifice for the team rather than play 4 himself that has placed dravid as INDIA's NO.1 batsmen in both forms of the game even though there is daylight between him n tendulkar in terms of talent n potenial, wid the latter being a TRUE GENIUS.

Sachin and Saurav both should be sacked. Laxman and Yuvi should be in..

As someone said in another context, Mukul Kesavan discovering dirty politics in team selection is like a middle aged man discovering sex.

If Laxman would have been picked up over Ganguly, there would have been another blog about why Ganguly was dropped. Laxman is plain unlucky to be a batsman at a time when middle order Test batsmen are aplenty.

Both of them are good players. Laxman has gotten his share of chances too. He has played 80 matches, remember. Picking 6 batsmen for this tour would have meant that one of them would have hardly gotten a chance to play, Bangladesh hardly troubling the batsmen. I think Laxman should focus on getting selected for the oncoming tours, instead of moping over the missed opportunity here.

2nd Test v/s Bangladesh - India 1st Innings
Runs Balls 4 6 SRate%
KD Karthik 129 212 16 0 60.84
W Jaffer 138 229 17 0 60.26
R Dravid 129 176 15 1 73.29
SR Tendulkar 122 226 8 1 53.98
The scorecard tells it's own story. By far the slowest centurion was SRT, bearing in mind that when he walked-in the score was 281/0 & the bowlers were really tired, the same happened in the 1st Test. Is he playing for personal records or for the team? Should younger players be given chance to develop for the future, specially after the fiasco of the 2007 World Cup?
All the big noises that BCCI made after the World Cup, nothing much seems to have changed. The so called "young team" has not materialised. The BCCI are like a bad Mother-in-Law "all mouth & no brains", always talking big but never doing anything clever in case it back-fires.
England tour will be a good test for Team India,
I cant wait for them to come over in July.

A great article. We see really less written about players like VVS Laxaman.
I dont see any reason other than politics in Ganguly getting nod over VVS Laxman. If the team management continues to do so, we may be missing out some brilliant batting especially timing from arguably one of the most talented and special player in the cricket history.

It is usually said that you can either hate them or love them but you can never ignore them. In the case of VVS, he might be hated or loved, but, for certain, he is ignored. Most people who rant here, know nothing of cricket, they are only parochial. Bandar kya jaaney adrak ka swad. VVS is a gentleman to the core, hence, he makes a soft target. These centuries against Bangladesh count for nothing, apart from bolstering one's record on paper. Let's see if VVS can be ignored when the opposition and playing conditions are far more testing. He who laughs last laughs best. My advice to VVS is to keep believing in himself and wait for his opportunity. He has nothing to prove to himself or to ignoramuses masquerading as cricket fans. He just has to concentrate on his game when he gets the chance.

Come on guys, everybody can find cricketing reason why anyone Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman, or even Yuvraj and Kaif should not be droppped. The hard fact is somebody has to be dropped. If it wasn't Laxman, then some of you and many of others will join in arguing that the other guy should not be dropped. Why don't we just leave these things to the guys in-charge and judge them from the results. India atleast proved there is no need for more than 3 middle order batmen. Just let's have them run the team their way before blaming them for once.

get rid off old horses think about young team.we Indians forgot wc taste so soon.dravid,ganguly,dada and tandulkar need rest
for good.we are wasting young talents at their
expense.got bless India and the selecters.

Why not DROP Tendulkar and bring in Laxman, a proven match-winner.After all Laxman has been able to do what no other Indian batsman(including much-hyped Tendulkar) has been able to do-Turned an Australia -India series into a victory for India where Steve Waugh had to eat the humble pie.

Laxman knock of 281 against Aussie was probably the best I had seen. That performace not only gave India a much needed victory, but one of the most important point that we over look is that it brought the record 16 wins by Aussie team to the end.It brought the record domination to close at least for sometime.I have never seen any indian cricket team fight back to win the series ,similar to kapil 175 against zim. in 1983 world cup, too bad we never had telecast or recording.
Coming to laxman, that knock should have given him more opportunities in both forms of the game. But within two years time he was dropped for 2003 world cup. He was never given a permanent slot unlike some of our senior players in past and present who have the comfort zone, may be face value, may be political, may be sponser money. Laxman was made to open , was given probably all the slots in batting position from 1 through 6. Even though he prefferred one down, which was Rahul spot. Most of the innings, he had to play with tailenders, Unlike the Aussie tailend which probably is the strongest, indian tailend batting might produce single digit runs, which might read more like a telephone number. So where would he get support from?
Yes, he did fail some tests especially the friendship test series with pakistan in india, but some other greats did not perform either.
I don't want to sound dramatic but sometimes I feel that by not taking Laxman in the world cup 2003, it might be due to "Curse of Laxman" and probably we will not win a world cup for many years, the closest being 86 years after my red sox team which had to endure similar " curse of bambino". Well, if at all any one reads this probably will laugh away, but I could care less. At least for me the INdia's world cup win can end this "Curse of laxman".

I don't know why people keep saying Ganguly was the best Indian batsman in SA - the Indian batting was pathetic in SA in both forms of the game. Thanks to Sreesanth's terrific bowling and SA's overconfidence that India won the first test match. Did any of you actually see Ganguly bat in the 2nd test? He was completely clueless against some hostile fast bowling. His 50 in the first test wasn't as impressive as media hyped it up to be - he was hiding behind VRV Singh for crying out loud. The only innings which I'd say was decent was in the last test where he came out of position and did OK for a bit. He wasn't a hero in SA and neither was any other batsman for that matter including VVS.

It is not important who one thinks is the best batsman or what one has delivered in the past. One should be selected on current performance. Ganguly is the best batsman in the team based on performance not in Bangladesh but the fastest pitches of South Africa.

i agree that Laxman is a good bastman.. hes definately better than yuvraj in tests...but calling for the drop of Tendulkar or Ganguly for him?

You have to take into account that Ganguly has been doing pretty good since his return to the team, better than Laxman. As for Tendulkar, i agree he's not what he used to be, but he's still damn effective n doing wat a middle order batsman should do --- staying for the innings.

If anyone should be droped i would say it should be Jaffer. The guy is unbelievably inconsistant. Bagging a pair against Bangladesh and then scoring a century the next match. Take a look through his career, hes got plenty of single digit scores already(including 4 ducks) and bearly gets over 20.

i think cricket should be banned that way no one gets to play and there willbe no waste of time discussing the issue.The country is going to dogs and people are talking about middle order batsmen...crazy world

Its disgusting to see comments like forcibly retiring players of Laxman's calibre. Laxman is a class act who is a bigger threat to Dravid and Ganguly's places in the team. If Seahwag and Yuvraj were given such long ropes then Laxman was never given that kind of confidence .Make no mistake about it. Perhaps he is too easy going a guy to be easily toyed with. Had he been in Australia he would be trated as gold and given enough opportunities to build on his talent. He may have had his fair share of fitness problems but who didn't have. Except for Dravid everybody in this team had their own share of fitness issues. There are underlying politics in the team which come to the fore everytime Laxman's name comes for selection and we have national selector /chairman who cannot completely justify his exclusion by giving flimsy reasons for his abscence.

I like that simon scholes. now perhaps u know why indian team is where they are! they donot want match winners like VVS be it oDI or tests. why coz it is more important for them to please some fans from some states than the team winning. will aussies pick two keepers in a team and drop a premier batsman? laxman keeps winning tough matches and the next time around he is dropped to accommodate ganguly/dhoni/yuvraj.....pity the indian team....

seriously guys, do you think either Laxman or Yuvraj really care if they played or not???? they are probably very happy sitting in the shade sipping lemonade while likes of sachin/ganguly get burnt alive! who in their right mind would want to play bangladesh in such conditions....especially considering the high cost of failure...."can't even score against bangladesh, useless....don't take him to england"....what really miffs me is the sheer short-sighted of BCCI...rather than holding useless camps why doesn't it encourage guys yuvraj, laxman, kaif, vrv singh etc to play county cricket in england....it is surely better than sipping lemonade in dhaka.....india will get killed by a below avergae english side in the summer....all thanks to BCCI

Look at Ganguly's record against Australia, and then look at VVS's record against Australia. The choice stares you in the face.
If that isn't enough, and if you still want to argue that Ganguly scores quicker and freely, let me tell you that Ganguly hasn't been scoring quickly or freely at all lately. He is afraid to take the attack to the spinners as he usually does, like we saw in South Africa as well. I mean, he seemed afraid yesterday to hit a dobbly left armer (the kind he usually gobbles up) out of the park. On the other hand, Laxman is one of the freest scorers in the Indian team, and if given the confidence to play naturally, he is a delight to watch.

Great blog. Mukul you wrote all the valid points on the discrimination on Laxman in Indian Team. The reasons for dropping Laxman are not obviously the cricketing reasons they are financial/political reasons. I have been following Laxman's fate by each series from 2001 till date.. and especially from past 4 yrs he is been over shadowed by ppl like Sachin, Ganguly and other youngsters.
Mukul,if we can lift this blog to a level where BCCI , SELECTORS, Dravid and co realize the biggest mistake they have done...We want to stop the trains like Bengalies did...we want to do strikes...I am up for any thing...but I want this guy to be saved from biggest threat that is going to happen to his career. This is really crazy. being a huge fan of indian cricket...I am losing faith in the indian team and ending up supporting other teams....I have at least one 100 page book to write with all the facts and incidents... Hence Guys, lets do it for a good cause.

Ind Vs SA (2006-07)
Ganguly Laxman
Test 1
Inngs 1 51 28
Inngs 2 25 73

Test 2
Inngs 1 0 50
Inngs 2 26 15

Test 3
Inngs 1 66 13
Inngs 2 46 1
------------------------------------------------
204 180
I rest my case. these figures are against SA, so called bouncy pitches. Laxman is very good. Ganguly and Sachin are also very good. its a difficult pick, please dont get politics and everything else. They are doing the best they can.

Laxman is better than Ganguly in test matches, agreed! But why ruin a petition for Laxman by bringing politics into it. I don't know, maybe you know about politics better, but I cannot see how politics play a part. Ganguly is scoring runs...not his fault...he's being given chances...only Dravid can answer that. The article should focus on the merit of Laxman over Ganguly, which is true, rather than cheapen Laxman indirectly by dragging politics into it, that too lead by Ganguly's name. Why? Laxman has performed as well and usefully as Sachin too in the last 10 tests....why not Sachin politics...or West politics, or South politics or India politics. Indians love bringing politics into everything.

Laxman deserves to be in, period. Only Dravid has the answer to why he is sitting on the bench. Rest is all conjecture, more so the Ganguly politics thing - that's passe and stale.

In my honest opinion we are lucky to be witnessing a golden generation of batsmen in the team. Each and everyone of Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly are batsmen of extraordinary calibre, where Sachin vies for a place with the best ever, one of the Greats(capital G) and Dravid being one of the greats(small g). It is unfortunate that we have to make issues out of the selection of these cricketers. I don't think we'll have a batting line-up in the near future.

Anyways, if the team management hadn't had a major brain freeeze, we wouldn't be having this discussion. NO-ONE can say RPS or VRV are more productive to the team than Ganguly/Laxman.

Well said, Narayan ! VVS just needs to wait for his chance. He needs to prove nothing to anyone..as Greg Chappell observed when he was leaving .."he (VVS) still looks so classy when he's attacking." I hope we have another gr8 series Down Under later this year..another Test 100 for VVS at the SCG..i'm very much expecting..in an ideal world..Yuvraj also will make big runs in AUS.

What Ganguly's doin in Indian cricket, i havent a clue. Records arent everything. I go by what i witness too. Seeing Ganguly "perform" during the Pakistan home series in March-2005 convinced me that Saurav's time was up not only as skipper but also as batsman and he should've announced his retirement (sadly, its not an ideal world) and nothing he's done ever since has made me chang my mind about his cricket. He's showed some spirit and guts in recent times..but i'm afraid that hasnt been good enough ;we need to look ahead...we have a gem in Yuvraj ..but..well..when u think of the current state of affairs in INdian cricket..it is an ABSOLUTE muddle...as Ian Chappell has said..'we are wasting such a golden period of batting.. '; Yuvraj should've scored 4000 Test runs by now with atleast 10 Test tons. What Imran has always said about Inzamam holds true for Yuvraj as well..'He himself doesn't seem to know how good he is'

SAchin..well, i wouldnt look too much into what's happened in the last 2 Tests..as Harsha Bhogle said in his article ..'we have everything to lose' from this Bang trip. I think SAch will be fine in ENG & AUS.....watching him play was a sad sight alright..but somehow i got the feeling he couldnt somehow get himself psyched up or motivated against this attack & he's been happy to milk the runs...this tour has happened at such an odd time..

And people, if i could just ask this..if there's anyone out there who has or has managed to get hold of the DVDs of some of Brian Lara's great Test & one-day innings (apart from his 400 or 375 or 153*)...PLEASe contact me at vindy_scg277@yahoo.com; Thnx ,Vinod K

Wow, what responses. So much of emotion.

the way I look at it, India has many choices, good choices. It is a good situation to be in. Somewhat like the Aussies - they can relegate top players who are out of form and still have a strong side. Those top players can then get their hunger for runs back and press their claim.

Batsmen to choose from: Dravid (certainty + captain).

Sehwag, Jaffer, Karthick, Gambhir, Sachin, Ganguly, Laxman, Yuvraj, Kaif, Dinesh Mongia, Badrinath, Uthappa and Manoj Tiwari (though he is out for the next 12+ weeks for durgery in London).

Keeper: Karthick and Dhoni

Fast bowlers: Zaheer, Munaf, Sreesanth, Ishan Sharma, Irfan, RP Singh, VRV Singh, my trump card is Ranadeb Bose.

Spinners: Kumble, Harbajan, Pawar, Powar, Piyush Chawla.

We are a bit light on "quality" spin bowling and that is because the game has changed over the years. We should encourage the youngsters to be persistent, keep pegging along for the day that Kumble retires from tests.

Among the batsmen, I think that in the next year or two, Saurav first and then Sachin will retire. In three years Dravid will retire. This will require:

1. A good captain who can hold his place in the team. My gut feeling is that this could be Laxman for a while until Yuvraj is able to cement his place and then take over the captaincy.

Hello BCCI? Are you listening?

Cheers

Nattusbs

On one hand the writer complains that certain players are picked for political reasons (read ganguly) or on their past reputation (read tendulkar) and yet he keeps harping back to that one innings in calcutta, circa 2001. Laxman was given more than enough opportunity to make his spot permanent, but could not do so.
When we look at someone like Dravid, no one particular innings comes to mind- it could be any from his specials at Headingley, Adelaide, Calcutta, Rawalpindi, Jamaica, Kandy to name a few. It is time we gave up this "romanticism" of VVS Laxman. The man is six years older after THAT innings, is a severe liability on the field and frankly is at the end of his tether. The same of course can be said for Tendulkar and Ganguly (at the end of their tethers that is)- it is time to install the Yuvraj's, Sehwag's, Kaif's, Raina's firmly as the mainstays of the Indian batting order. How going back to Laxman is the way forward just beats me. Two out of Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Laxman should be persisted with to share their experience with the youngsters over the next two years before handing it over completely. Since Dravid's class and performances speak for themselves, it leaves one spot for the other three to fight for.
We bemoan the lack of fitness in your team compared to the new standards set by Australia and then in the same breath we want Laxman back in the team. The game is moving to a different level and we are in serious danger of being left behind if we keep looking for 'touch artists' at the expense of athletic, consistent, aggressive players who can go toe to toe with opposition under any conditions. Players have to be very strong in atleast two out of the three basic disciplines in the game. And frankly speaking Laxman does not deserve a chance as long as the only thing we can look back on and smile at is one superlative innings played on an unforgettable day under the hot sun at the eden gardens...

GREAT POST!!!!
I completely agree with you MK!!!
VVS Laxman has been very badly treated by Ganguly & Dravid & has been extremely unlucky.In fact considering His talent I would say that He is the unluckiest cricketer I have ever seen...
A person who was talented enough to be in the bracket of Sachin & Gavaskar as the batting maestros of Indian cricket now has a test record comparable to Sourav Ganguly & has played just 86 ODIS & not even a single World CUP!!!Just because Sourav & Dravid felt insecure due to His prodigial batting skill... They knew that if Laxman was given proper chances,He would not only cement His place in the team,He would also be a huge threat to the captaincy so dear to both of them...
ITS JUST A SHAME BUT...
I will always be a huge Laxman fan.Remember Laxman you truly are very very special...
And you have nothing more to prove now...
I thank you for such special artistic innings which gave me pure joy...
Shame on ganguly & Dravid who treated you badly...

personally , i think that it very unfortunate for vvs to sit outside from the test team and player like ganguli is playing inplace of his caiber.
we all know that ganguli is fine player bt not so fine than vvs in test matches. so selecter should have think about that and other thing is that selecter have to also think about the next upcoming series of england also.u cant ignore that type lalent and hv to use him in england so why not there also.

one thing is sure u cant beat england without player like this caliber.

Once again, I fail to see anybody even trying to talk about Laxman and Tendulkar's batting in the second innings of the third test in SA (not that Laxman distinguished himself in the first innings either). Now, that was the make or break time .... a 40 odd from both Laxman and Tendulkar and Dravid would have been the first captain since Ajit Wadekar to return with two series wins from difficult overseas conditions. But when it matters the most, as nearly always, Bradman Tendulkar failed. The matchwinner, Laxman hardly lived up to his repute of being the "second best player of fast bowling", chasing the non existent single as though he was batting in the 49th over a one day innings instead of the third innings of a crucial Test match. No, on current form, I agree with a previous post, "Why can't we drop Tendulkar?" would have been a more "apolitical topic" than the present one. That seems to be the consensus view here too: Lot of support for Ganguly, lots for Laxman, while nobody seems quite happy regarding Sachin.
Of course in an ideal world none of these players had to be dropped, and personally I think the Indian batting line up was selected keeping in mind the best interests of the team. And yes, no matter how pathetic Tendulkar may be when a knock from him could make all the difference between winning and losing, when it comes to scoring 100s even when one is not in the best of form and it is a matter of personal pride, Tendulkar is the only one who could do it. Did it in Sydney, Australia, and he's doing it here in Bangladesh.

Hey,
I seriously think "Mukul Kesavan" should not write in cricinfo. He might be a good editor but writing about cricket is more than editorial skills. I humble myself before I say this but tI think his ideas about cricket lacks substance and probably he is the worst writer here. It usually lacks depth in thought and some ideas are just really counter-productive. I still feel Greg Chappell was a good coach but we didnt have the discipline in the team to construvtively evaluate and execute ideas. Tendulkar was blaring that Chappell didnt speak to him for days on the SA series. I wonder if its not right for a coach to feel frustrated when apparently the most experienced crickter in Indian team has a string of low scores. Even his recent hundred proves it. I dont know why he still criticizes Chappell when the rot is right before you. Please do remember Chappell was the batting consltant in India's most comptetive tour in Aussie land in 03-04.

As a South African, I never cease to be amazed at how Indian fans get their knives out for Tendulkar. It's almost like a mantra: "He's selfish, he's past it, let's get rid of him."

Yes, it's self evident that he is no longer the attacking force of old, as age and injury have obviously taken their toll on him. But even a waning Tendulkar is a force to be reckoned with; there are no obvious contenders to take his place and only Dravid can be conclusively be said to be a superior player to him in this current Indian team. Yes, the other guys may be scoring quicker and looking fresher, but they still have to prove their mettle over a long period of time, something which he has already done.

All this rubbish about how he doesn't play match winning innings: well, of his 37 hundreds, several have been scored in matches where he didn't get any support from the rest of India's spineless batting, or the bowling wasn't penetrative enough to take 20 wickets. So why blame him for the failures of his team mates?

And as for the nonsense about his being selfish and only playing for statistics: well, guess what, it's good for India, because every time he scores a hundred, it puts them in a potentially strong position IF his team mates can complete the job and pull their weight as well.

Remember, NO player in the entire history of cricket, perhaps any sport, has played under such enormous pressure, having to cope with the often unrealistic expectations of so many millions of fans. To have achieved all that he has, despite this, is quite staggering.

For India's sake, I hope he stays in cautious, accumulative mode. Come England, it won't be about playing shots, it will be about keeping your head and compiling your runs on seaming wickets. If he plays the anchor role and builds an innings, it will at least help India edge towards a draw, given that they don't have the bowling to force a win and their batting as a unit (barring Dravid) is highly suspect away from home.

In the past, I used to cringe at how many hundreds he threw away, by playing a reckless shot in the 80s or 90s. There's no harm in him now cutting out risks and whether he blazes away or scratches for runs, it's immaterial - it's how effective he is that will ultimately count.

I understand people's frustrations and everyone's entitled to their opinion: but shame on those of you who have forgotten his massive contribution to Indian cricket and have shown such a vindictive attitude towards the greatest batsman ever to play for India.

I agree with Mark Anthony. Its ridiculous to constantly blame Tendulkar. Yes his hundreds against Bangladesh were slow and laboured, but if you looked closely he was hopping around the short ball, not because it was quick but becasue it barely came on. His reflexes are not slow. Infact he's playing early not late. Yes he got beaten for pace in the world cup, but that was a great ball which could get anyone. Even in South Africa, his 44 in the low scoring first game was critical for our first win there. Indian fans are stupid. If he scores quickly and effectively, they blame him for not getting a big one. If he scores slowly and gets a hundred, its not good enough. Just let the poor blighter bat!!!

Good show, KC and Mark. Finally some support for Tendulkar as well. It seems though he is the "third force" in this debate ala BJP in the UP elections. Like I said, Tendulkar is the only cricketer not just in India, but in the world, who's capable of scoring 100s in the worst of form. Sydney and Bangladesh are the best examples. However, of late (and I mean since 2005) he does seem to be a better player when personal prestige is at stake rather than the team's fortunes. It is always the challenge of a duel against Mcgrath, Lee, Shoaib Akhtar, Shane Bond, Nel, Pollock, Mortaza, Rafique, or even "Lord Paul Harris" that lights his fighting spirit rather than India reeling at 49 for 4. Dravid and Laxman are just the opposite: It is when India is in dire straits, that either one or both of them come to the rescue. As regards Ganguly, well, in technique he is probably behind all three, in temparament he is better than all of them. But what he lacks in cricketing skills, he more than makes up for by his attitude. In that respect he is a lot like Steve Waugh, whose best innings is also the one that most thoroughly exposed his technical limitations, especially his weakness to the short ball: the 200 not out against a close to peak form Walsh and Ambrose. The best of Ganguly's fighting knocks have similarly consisted of taking several on the helmet and chest. Surely, all four will feature in the line up against England this summer. Laxman, I think should press his case more forcefully then: he has two sets of batting personalities, one when he plays Australia or Pakistan, and a completely different one when playing everybody else.
However, in a two test series like Bangladesh, where anything remotely resembling failure would tantamount to a prolonged phase of non selection, I think it was a wiser decision to include both Tendulkar and Ganguly over Laxman. After all, they definitely have better self preservation instincts than him. And in this case, self preservation interests align closely with that of the team's interests: playing 5 batsmen mean everyone has to score runs, how fast is not that important.

Now, let me think. India played SA in a test match in 1995 or 1997 (details not important). Was Laxman around? Yes. Now India is playing B'desh in 2007 and he is still part of the squad but NOT in the team. You gotta be kidding me if you are trying to tell me that he has been around for over 10-12 years and has still not found a permanent place in the team? Then it's either that he is just unlucky or people wrong about him ALL the time (which seems rather unlikely), or that there is a problem with him somewhere. Seriously, if you do a job and you suck at your job so much that you can't get people to pick you consistently at it, you have 2 choices: 1. Quit and try your hand at something else (commentating or coaching seems to be the thing to do these days - ask Manjrekar or Prasad). 2. Stick on and get people like Mukul Kesavan to write things about you while bullying sub-standard Ranji bowlers for kicks. Aha! Looks like Laxman has picked option 2.

Hi Mukul,
I have followed almost all your articles since the past year.I feel that you have been bang ob in every article be it on VV,be it on Dean Jones getting commentary stint backon Indian Television, on VVS non inclusion in WC 2007.

I am a big big fan of VVS & have followed his batting very closely.It is almost as thought he is the easiest person to get dropped on flimsy reasons by the selectors,dravid & co.

I am happy that someone of your journalistic stature has brought out this piece on VVS.I fully endorse your views.

I hope VVS scores tons of runs in England & makes a mockery of his non-inclusion in B'desh series & WC 2007.

It is sad that Dravid conveniently drops VVS & forgets VVS'S class & calibre.I have a lot of time & respect for Dravid but as far his handling of VVS is concerned he is a dud-period.Shame on you Dravid.

Thanks a lot for bringing this piece on VVS -Mukul.Please keep highlighting the injustice being meted to my favourite batsman VVS.

I wish I could write more but, I just can't make myself write more on injustice being meted out to VVS.

One last suggestion to VVS(I am no one to give advice to VVS) pls hang in there, do not lose hope because good people have tough times sometimes but good people like you will get great time in abundance.

I hope & pary that you score lots of runs no thousands of runs in future series & shut all doubters.

Come on VVS.I am big fan of u.All the best.

Further, I do not agree with this ageing players argument in test cricket. It may hold in one dayers, but in test cricket, it is performers who matter over young legs. The youth must push hard in whatever chances they get but shouldn't be just brought in for the sake of it unless they are outstanding.

Look at how West Indies are struggling in England for the lack of quality experience in their team.

Laxman should be the first name penned in after Dravid for India test matches. Similarly, Sachin, Saurav, Sehwag should be next in. If you as any team, they'll be breathing easier when India leaves out the likes of Laxman and Sehwag. At least England certainly would.

I'm sure Laxman will be in the England-bound team; it is possible they took a chance with Bangladesh, but they should have then not selected Laxman at all if they weren't intending to play him. This is a poor experiment, yet there wasn't any need to select Laxman and not play him. Give him the respect due to him.

India will need wicket-taking bowlers in England, and as many as they can play in a team, for England are in awesome form and bat right down to Matt Prior (explosive too). Their bowling is less of a worry and experienced hands should see them through. Despite DK's century on the flats of Mirpur, one shouldn't make the mistake of taking him as an opener for Engalnd...and Jaffer needs to be more consistent than one innings per series.

Excellent article, totally appreciate your point of view, however, do not agree. In the same context you are saying Laxman has been made a scapegoat, I can fight for Ganguly too. Sometimes when you don't see a good music video too often, that makes you feel good about the video regardless whether really that deserves that credit. I feel the same way about Laxman. No doubt he is one of the best, but so is Ganguly. But that's not the point. It's not about playing fast bowling alone. There is no doubt that Laxman and Ganguly both are auto choice into the team while playing six batsmen (and that's how it should be), I am not 51% sure that Laxman is preferable over Ganguly. It's interesting because I'm not 51% sure that Ganguly is preferable over Laxman too :). I don't remember many occasions in recent past when bowlers really won India when the batsmen were unable to put a good total. It was just one occasion I can remember that also three years back when in Nagpur, India bowled Australia out below 110. To that exception India won test matches by its Batsmen, and the bowlers' have always maintained a supporting role. That being said, it's evident playing five batsmen just makes Indian bowling line up good on paper. It almost never really helped. So makes the point of arguement that who should be chosen over whom, that is between Laxman and Ganguly invaid. I think Yuvraj just has to wait.

Being an Aussie it never ceases to amaze me how divided Indian fans are on selection. I remember having many entertaining debates with you guys at the recent World Cup.

Here are some home truths I believe to move Indian cricket forward:

1. Pick players on their ability to play in a team and work as a team (MUST BE ABLE TO FIELD) - e.g. Ganguly should not be in the team, Munaf Patel is questionable too...

2. Remove all so called "super-stars" from the Test team - this includes firstly Dhoni and Sehwag and never pick them again until they improve their technique. Dhoni has a horrible technique that should never ever be seen in test cricket. Sehwag relies too heavily on his eye and is bound to struggle when out of form. Neither knows how to graft.

3. Stick with players and give them a fair go - It seems like everyone in the team is pretty much a few games away from being dropped.

4. Pick players that show the same passion for India as you guys do - Drop players who don't have heart - Karthik has impressed in this regard.
You will never meet an Australian cricketer who plays for his average or sponsorship deals.

5. Lay off Tendulkar - Sachin looked ordinary in South Africa - but almost everybody looked bad. He brings invaluable experience to support Dravid.

If you want to compete with us you will need to think about these home truths and not super-stars and guys who can hit the ball out of the park.

Determination and fight is what wins you test matches away from home, when the chips are down.

So I think the batting line-up should be (out of the current pool of players):

1. Jaffer
2. Kathik
3. Dravid
4. Tendulkar
5/6. Laxman / Yuvraj / Kaif
7. Pathan
8. Kumble
9. Harbhajan / M.Patel
10.Khan
11.Sreesanth

Shut up all you guys!Enough of Soutrav Bashing!What more does he have to do to prove himself?After all ,who rose to the occasion in South Africa,on pitches and a vicious bowling attack against the likes of which he is supposedly susceptible.I am a fan of Laxman`s and it is just unfortunate that he has to miss out due to the captain`s inane decision of playing 5 bowlers,but keep off Sourav,all of you!He`s still got a great deal of cricket in him!

Mukul,
You highlighted the issue. Laxman must play in tests. But the issue is bigger than that. Why is someone as talented as Yuvraj kept out. His attitude remains a problem, but he is worth a place in the test.

Indeed, Tendulkar and Ganguly must be dropped. It is such a shame the way Sachin has played this series. He is loosing my veneration for him. I still respect him. But the way he is playing, it is such a shame.

Yuvraj should anyday play ahead of Ganguly. It is high time this happens. It appears that Ganguly and Sachin are bad influences in the team and must retire now.

Murali Karthik played okay. But there is simply no place for 2 wicket keepers. We need a specialist opener and he is either Uttappa or Akash Chopra or Gambhir.

The team itself seems to go back to aged players rather than give some youngesters a chance. If they do not give youngesters a chance what are they doing?. It appears a "mafia" is in place on how team is selected. Dravid too lacks guts to reign in changes. The team ought to be (with substitute for several positions if the main player fails):
Uttappa\Akash Sharma, Jaffer\Gambir, Dravid, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Manoj Tiwari\Raina Joginger sharma\C Raghu,Piyush Chawla\Appanna, Power\Rajesh Rowar, Sreeshanth, Zaheer Khan\Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma\RP Singh.

Instead the team selection has become pathetic to say the least. That is also obvious from the short list of players for England and Scotland.

Get Mohinder Amarnat as coach and he is the best man to fix many of these ills.

Prasad Thenkabail

So now that we've exhausted Ganguly, Tendulkar and Laxman, the focus now shifts to Dinesh Karthik. Yes, he scored runs on flat Bangladesh pitches, but also on the livelier pitches of South Africa. Can he handle the swing in England? If he can handle the new ball swing of Nel and Ntini, Harmison, Sidebottom and others shouldn't be too difficult. I know, I know, he did not face Pollock with the new ball. Surely that is HIS fault and not Graeme Smith's. But on balance, I think Karthik has it in him to be successful in England. How about a wager folks? I say Karthik as opener in England averages 33 per innings with two 50s. Anything less and I shall type in bold letters 20 times in this post, I shall never blog on cricket again. And if he does that and more, then everybody here who's expressed doubts regarding his capabilities type the same in bold. Any takers?

Indian selectors doesnt know what we know if we give chance of picking the test team VVS should be in Indian team. He is main stay for Indian team when we are playing agianst big teams(Australia, South africa). He is classical batsman I ever seen in my life. Playing against Bangladesh is not big deal. I don't why Rahul dravid is avoiding the VVS. If this is the criteria indian team will never go up in rankings. Rahul is also like our ex-captain.

The crux of MK's argument, if I understood it correctly, was that Sourav's recent form and his proven short-ball susceptibility make him a liability against teams in the top quartile of the Test cricket leader board. Recent form would suggest Sourav had bribed his way through the system. In the last 8 innings against quality opposition (Pakistan in Karachi and the three tests in South Africa), Sourav has scored 285 runs at an average of 40.71. Sachin has totaled 248 at 31, VVS 220 at 31.4 an innings, and Dravid 130 at 16.25. As Sourav has been out of the team for long, this is as far as we can go for a comparative quality audit. Obviously, Asif, Pollock, Ntini, et all took pity at the Prince's fall from grace, preserving the bouncy stuff for more robust blokes in the team. It's time cricket journalists did a bit of fact-checking.

It is yet another Indian fraility of allowing the recent events cloud their vision. Being a great fan of Sachin Tendulkar, even I was slightly irritated at the snail's pace at which he gathered runs. But all those kneejerk reactions of having him dropped are unfounded. As Steve had mentioned in his reply, even the great Don Bradman had a career strike rate in 50s in test cricket. SO what was wrong in Tendulkar making 2 hundreds at 50 + strike rates?
Further, it is only great sportsmen who can succeed even when they are not in their best form - they do this by compromising flair for effectiveness.
Even a legend like SRT needs a string of big scores, to bloster his confidence and start playing more naturally. I think the 2 hundreds will do him a world of good in England.
Again, resting him (an euphemism for dropping him in the one dayers) did no great favour to his self-confidence.
Stop picking up on SRT, for his own good and the country.

Congrats, Ash. That's the best of the 188 comments that I have read. Yes, I know, haven't got a lot to do on the long memorial day weekend. I think your comment merits a reply from MK himself, no less. Have you got something to say sir? I have seen you comment in your own blogs in the past, surely Ash's comments merit more attention?

Its very interesting how people from the south or the west still sharpen their knives on hearing Sourav Ganguly's name and blatantly accuse Bengalis of supporting a "lost cause".This hurts a lot,specially when you are a Bengali.I mean come on lets face it,mere stats will show that Dada has contributed a lot to Indian cricket,as a leader and as a player.I feel very proud as an Indian(not as a Bong) when i see that he has led India to 21 Test victories,a fair percentage of wins against the Aussies,England,Pakistan and even the West Indies.The next best,as I can remember,is Md.Azharuddin with 14 Test victories,most of them against Sri Lanka and a one off Test Series against Mark Taylor's men in the 97-98 series,though that was mainly due to the euphoric batting of the Little Master.
Yeah we know that Dada is an emotional guy,but tell me who isnt?Dont we consider Cricket as a religion and cricketers in demi-gods?If we can be emotional so can be the cricketers...and pray why not?I mean to say lets look back on the 50 years of Test cricket that we have played...we have had numerous great leaders right from Lala Amarnath to the Nawab of Pataudi or even to Kapil Dev & Ravi Shastri(his record was brilliant).One has to admit nobody faced as much turmoil starting as a captain as Dada-the match-fixing controversy threatened to suck every unstained player in the soup.Starting off from a never before downhill & then regrouping a team,making them a cohesive unit and then going off to make the World Cup Final,or the No.2 position in the Test list needs special mention.
When we speak of captaincy,its not only leading a team of eleven onto the pitch,but also shouldering the responsibility of a billion hopes and at the same time pulling up a strategy that will unnerve the opposing captain.We have had captains,but never complete captains till Sourav arrived.Yes he was strategic at his best,otherwise who would have had the guts of making the Aussie captain(who at that point of time had won 16 tests in a row) wait for 10 minutes for the toss,almost on the verge of going nuts?Or who else would have reacted like him at the Natwest Final...his actions were impulsive,yet it reflected the true Indian spirit...celebrating a famous victory the same way a teenager would have done in a nukkad of Mumbai.So,where lies his fault?He has never ever been biased to his state or lobbied for anybody from Kolkata,very much unlike Sachin Tendulkar who lobbied for Ajit Agarkar as if he was his adopted son.On the contrary,Sourav promoted the likes of Zaheer Khan,Kaif,Yuvraj & our own Bhajji.Under him they had achieved enviable success,including the famous hattrick against the Aussies at Kolkata...and now just look at them.With the bare exception of the sparkless Yuvraj or the unpredictable Zaheer Khan(he got a 5wkt haul by the way against B'Desh)...everbody's gone down the drain...How?Why?
Its only because of the reason that they seemed to lack the inspiration,the confidence that they once had under Dada.Look at Rahul Dravid now.I do agree he has one of the sharpest cricketing minds but only intellect doesnt take you far,you need the guts to gamble,which sadly,is missing in us.I brought about this topic because i felt that even leading a side is a specialised job,which needs special people and Sourav Ganguly definitely fits in better than anyone.That doesnt mean I'm rooting for his comeback as a captain...im only saying that to achieve what he has achieved in 11years needs courage & determination.
And if you really want to talk about his cricketing abilities,let me tell you that no one has ever faced such harsh criticism before & still made it to the top.I mean Sachin will be Sachin,the whole Mumbai lobby will always be with him,so will the Indian Press...for him,retirement is a voluntary option...it is he who will decide when to retire.The way he hobbled against a less than mediocre Bangaldeshi pace attack,prodded for almost 42 balls to get from 80 to 100 shows that he is bent on creating records,nothing more than that.For the fans who swear by Sachin,let me give you a small information...the highest Test score by Sachin is 248 against Bangladesh!I mean what does it say about his calibre?On the other hand,Ganguly's highest is 173 against Sri Lanka.Everybody wants to bat like a dream but Sourav always has been a bit more aggressive,a little more impatient against the spin attacks,always trying to hoik them over the boundary...& successfully!I would say...Good for him!Atleast he doesnt waste valuable time defending against bowlers as Sachin would like to.The way Sourav has made a comeback in the team speaks volumes for him,his mental strength.God forbid but had Laxman faced that kind of criciticism or banishment by a vindictive selector of the calibre of a Kiran More,he would have long withered out.This situation is quite comparable to the early mid 80s,when the mercurial Mohinder Amarnath(the best player of swing at that time) had to stage several comebacks to the team.Add to that,he was a very fit guy,not like Laxman.But I have to agree,on Laxman's day,he can dominate any pace attack of the world.I can still boast of the fact that i was one of those lucky few who got to watch the historical 281 by Laxman,ball by ball.It was a treat to watch him play so smoothly,all we could hear was the sound of the cherry hitting the timbre,and trust me...nobody can produce a sweeter tune than Laxman.He has been a performer & he will forever be,he just needs to imbibe a steely mental strength and stage a comeback like Ganguly.
I still remember the day when i saw Ganguly seated in his car,it was almost a month before the SA series...he was looking out of the window of his red Merc with a blank look,yet his eyes spoke volumes about the determination,the courage that he was mustering to stage a comeback...and what a comeback it was!Those who say his innings was a clumsy one I would like to point out that atleast he tried to apply himself unlike the likes of Dravid & Sehwag,or even Sachin(i remember a pathetic dismissal when he was bowled through the gates...dismal performance).
It would be of no use consuming cyber space & bandwith criticising Sachin,coz has the guts to speak out against him.To the so called Sachin admirers(i fear that the writer of this article is one of them)...Wake up & get a life!If we feel that Sachin is the greatest batsman alive,where would you put the likes of Ricky Ponting or Brian Lara in?
At the end I would just like to say that Cricket is all about performing and the rule should be applied uniformly,except ofcourse Sachin(the God of Indian cricket) Tendulkar,coz these rules only apply to the mortal beings...not a GOD!

laxman had to be dropped not because of ganguly but because of dhoni.of course dhoni has not done anything not be in the team but he can not open the innings. his swashbuckling innings may not be needed as much in tests as they are needed in ODIs. If kaarthik can open the innings, he should also keep the wickets. Thus dhoni has to go out of the team, however sad it may be. By playing two wicket-keepers we r not helping either of the 2 become an alrounder. If kaarthik keeps, we have a much better batting line-up.

Nattusbs

yes i agree. Laxman is the ideal captain in both tests and ODIs.
he is likely to retire in about 4 years.
Kaif should be his deputy in both verions.
That is ONLY if BCCI and fans want indian team to do well.

souvik:
dont keep asking waht laxman did in last of SA series.
u can't play well to win all tests or one dayers.
instead ask u]yourslef whether sachin and saurav play for themselves or the team?
how many times have they played well to win or drwa a test match?
how many times have they scored to help team to win a one day?

laxman has been shabbily treated by ganguly when he was captain. dravid is a coward as he is not able to drop others in spite of knowing the talent of VVS!

Amandeep SIngh : u hit the bull's eye.
BVR: Iam also a fan of Laxman's style, artistry and his match winning abilities be it a test or a one day! more importantly he is not selfish and always has team's interest at heart.
Iam sure he will score runs i england and help india win... if selectors atleast learn then he might find a place in the oDI team.. that is a wish and hope as we all know about indian politics!!! GOOD LUCK VVS!

AVM:Laxman has never been shabbily treated by Ganguly,otherwise he wouldn't have insisted on VVS opening the batting after having followed on in the famous Kolkata Test.Ganguly had immense confidence in his abilities and it was due to his initiative that Laxman got a call for the 2004 series Down Under,which according to me was a great turning point in his career.
I would also like to point out that the only time when Sachin helped India go on a bulldozing spree was in 97-98 series when he single handledly mauled the Aussie attack led by Michael Kasprowiscz...it was quite a placid attack though!And who can forget the famous 93 against Pakistan in the 03 World Cup.In Tests too,Sachin almost staged a miracle by chasing the Pakistani target at the Chepauk,his 136 was a masterpiece but couldnt save it in the end.Therefore to say that he never helped India win is not entirely correct.
Well to talk about Sourav will put most one day batsmen to shame...his 183 against Sri Lanka(99 World Cup),his 124 against Pakistan in Dhaka chasing a target,the magic arm bowling that won him the Man Of the Series at Toronto,the brilliant 144 at the drawn Brisbane Test which set the tone for the series...& most of all he had inspired a team to fight all odds to reach the top.So all of u who think that he hasn't contributed to Indian Cricket....THINK AGAIN!

The real issue here is that Laxman is a 1 down batter. This position belongs to Dravid - so if Laxman gets in Dravid has to go out. Any selector who think Yuvraj can be compared to Laxman ought to have their head examined. Yuvi occupies the position in Indian team that has been held by players like Bevan, Clarke & Ranatunga - now even on two butter chickens I would not give Yuvi grace marks against Bevan or Ranatunga. Of course, no talent + no class + punjabi = place in Indian team. Real Class + Talent + Good Attitude does not earn you anything in India (as Laxman knows too well). I stick to supporting New Zealand & Kenya. I want Laxman to emigrate to NZ. Whenever I hear Yuvi speak on the media, he sounds retarted.

Somshuvra Laha :
u r wrong if u think the fight is between bengalis and the rest of india!
pl read my commenst again. I never said sachin or ganguly NEVER won for india. My question was how many times given that their place is indispensable?
as far as dada is concerned i used to njpy his battin in one dayers upto 1999. after that only becasue he was the captain he reatined his place inspite of odd brilliant innings like the brisbane u mentioned and not counting gr8 centuries vs kenya. ditto with sachin. good upto sharjah storm and then odd performmance like WC vs pak. the way sachin is treated like God ask yourself is he better than lara or ponting when it comes to winning matches for country for that matter even inzi /s waugh.
whether u agree or not ganguly won matches because of stellar innings from laxman and dravid.in return dada asks dravid to keep wikcets and to protect his place discourages laxman. never gave him a decent run (compared to others like sehwag/sachin,yuvi and himself). laxman made it very clear that he does not want to open innings in tests. so give him the respect he deserves.if u want take him in middle order and he will win matches for u (recent 70+ against SA).if people have other ideas so be it!
the coach decided to send laxman at 3 in caltest becasue he was the only one looked capable of playing against aussie bowling in first innings. he scored 59 and was last out playing well against warne when no one else had an answer.
dravid is a defensive player where as laxman is an attacking stroke maker and a touch player. he should bat at 3 in oDIS and 3/5/6 in tests depending on the conditions and match situation.

as anil kumar point out the story would have been different if VVS was from bombay/cal/punjab/delhi or even jarkhand!

The point is no matter how much the ganguly haters want him out, he wont be because of politics. I admire Laxman a great player, but Ganguly has proved himself, Laxman will have to wait his turn. I haven't seen Laxman recently, but i have seen Ganguly, and to me the way he fought back and batted with determination shows this is one player who will play for his country. And for all this rubbish about sachin and saurav playin for them themselves what rubbish, are they against India? such stupid comments, who was the captain who got rid of factionalism and who led india out of match fixing, our very own DADA. if you wont have a go out at the traitors Mohmd Azharudin, Manjo Prabhakar and Jadeja are around. I blame the press. INCLUDING U MK!! Isnt JAdeja in the media business now, the traitor to indian cricket. obviously many people are idiots to even question the agenda of some of these people.

A final word to those people who have got a problem with Bengalis (srinivas). Are u jealous of Bengal's achievements, ye we will guide each other and help each other out, obviously u come form a state with no famous cricketers hence the stupid immatue comment. West Bengal is part of India, our main aim is that India wins and becomes the best. All those problems who have got a problem with West Bengali's loyalty, speak up now, JAI HIND

As India gets ready for an English summer, I cannot help thinking back to the horrendous tour of 1974, with our 42 all out, and morons like David Lloyd helping themselves to double centuries off our bowling. I fear something similar is going to happen. Our bowling attack is full of pea-shooters, and most of our batsmen are either past their prime (Tendulkar, Ganguly, even VVS), are out of form (Sehwag) or untested in seaming conditions (Jaffer, Karthick, Yuvi, Dhoni). The less said about our fielding and catching the better. So, IMHO, all this talk about VVS versus Ganguly versus Sachin, is a bit like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. India cricket fans best brace themselves for a bruising summer in England followed by a wipeout in Australia. I have a strong feeling that at the end of those two tours, whether we like it or not, our team will be looking very very different (not necessarily better). With the exception of Dravid, I don't see too many survivors from the present lot.

srinivas if ur so democratic u should learn to be less racist. Even the communist werent that racist.
second Ganguly has proved his point ......n u taking about how laxman was so great....it doesnt matter only current form matters n in the last series that laxman played i think i remember ganguly did better than him.(Please see South Africa series)

There have been many comments saying why past performance should not be counted. But let us spare a thought for VVS on his various innings which contributed for Indian victory.

1.No need to highlight about his 281 at kolkata.
2.In the next test at Chennai with India chasing target of 155 for series victory he was the top scorer with 66.
3.At Port of Spain test match in W.I (2001/2002 series) he was ‘Man of the Match’ with his scores of 66 & 75 which resulted in Indian win.
4.At Mohali vs New Zealand (2003/2004 series) he scored 104 * and 67* in the two innings thus saving the test match and thereby enabling India to draw the series 0-0 at home.
5.In the Adelaide test match he scored 148 along with Dravid in the first innings. In the second innings played a cameo of 32 which enabled Indian victory.
6.Top Scorer with 69 in the second innings of Mumbai test against Australia in 2004 which India won. After the win- John Buchanan the Australian coach commented “HA – its Laxman again” since this victory prevented them clean 3-0 sweep.
7.Scored 104 in the first innings of third test against SL in 2005 which India won.
8.Top Scorer with 73 in the second innings of first test against S.A in 2006 which India won.

What are the contributions of demigods Sachin and Sourav in any Indian victory since 2001. It is either Laxman or Dravid who contributed with the bat in Indian victories except for one innings of Sehwag where he scored a Triple century in Pak for an Indian win.

To this date it baffles Australian team and Gilchrist in particular why Laxman is not a permanent feature in Indian team.

"What are the contributions of demigods Sachin and Sourav in any Indian victory since 2001."

Mr.Kumar, isn't that a bit too overboard about Tendulkar?

1) Century in the same test as No.2 you mentioned.
2) Century in the same test as No.3 you mentoned.
3) Century in the same series as No.7 you mentioned in the second test which was his 35th.
4) Century with Laxman at Calcutta in 02-03 versus Windies which helped draw the series.
5) 55 in the same test as No.6 you mentioned and min you, this after he was coming back from an injury and playing only his second test. Unlike Laxman who had played the whole series.

And this is a comparison between Laxman who supposedly was at his peak and Tendulkar who is on the way down. Not too bad I guess!!

Also, remember during the late 90s when Dravid and Laxman were made to look like schoolboys in a strip club, it was Tendulkar who was carrying India;s batting, be it Australia or South Africa or even New Zealand. Tendulkar's performances allowed these people to settle down and it took them finally 4-5 years before they came good at the international scene.

u r absolutely right KP Kumar.
I like laxman for all the innings u mentioned. I remeber all those gr8 innings.That is why I think he is a match winne and has team's interest above everything else unlike others who just play for records and for themselves.

Dravid is one of the worst indian captain in terms of cricketing brain. It is due to his captaincy dat india were not able to defend 193 against bangladesh in world cup. Everytime he is making fool of ourselves by taking the responsibility for the every defeat. If he is reallly resposible he should have resigned,but he will never do dat

Sachin should score some USEFULL runs atleast at
this(Bangla tour)rate in England and Is still to match even ganguly and dravid's match winning
knocks so far, He is a king of Cheap runs.

I think you are biased in favour of Laxman. According to present form, and the fighting abilities shown in South Africa, Ganguly easily gets the nod over Laxman. In fact, I personally would prefer Yuvraj over Laxman. Choosing between Tendulkar and Laxman would be a tough one though, but I would still go for Tendulkar after his form in Bangla series. So in effect, Laxman does not get to be a part of the Indian team even if we play one more batsman.

About the 5 bowler issue - I think Pathan should surely be included. In England, we need a guy who can swing, and theres nobody who can do that better than Pathan. Moreover, he can also bat.

Dear posters, Ganguly never should be a compitetor for VVSL (for that matter even WJ, DK, ot Dhoni). Mr Ganguly has done some good things as skipper but he is completely out of touch since few years (thanks to Dalmiya for retaining out of form Ganguly for years, do not pick up bloody SA tour). I would have liked to see Ganguly’s last handshake in international cricket after the WC07. If Ganguly had the true spirit for the team, then we would gone into next stage of the tournament (don’t take me wrong).
Is anybody remembered where we were in the WC07? Was there any country which retained their skipper and the players who were maliciously undermined the team’s interests. I think this the bigger context to look at, and for me Saurav should have been kicked out of the team without second thought. I am afraid boys, if you are a Bengali, we will respect for some of the hero’s the Bengal had produced but, in the case of Saurav no excuse.

The years efforts were invested on the tournament preparation, like we selected Greg and we had given more than a fair run to the skipper Dravid (I.e. the BBCI announced a shipper for two years in a trot, which was history in world cricket) and we had persisted with non-performers for 10 to 20 matched on the trot. Even then the team management failed miserably not even joining second stage of the WC 07 competition. Was that NOT a shame enough to kick Dravid out of the post? Do you want to give 10 years to Dravid for 40% of winning matches? We were diverted by the lesser issues. What the brainless Sharti can bring to the team as manager, I say nothing. He was more than a idiot in the making of the Indian team.

How many times and again you keep on ignore VVS from the team, were these Demo-gods had brought pie nuts to the country with their abilities. How many WC they involved? Why are we persisting with them to make ourselves fools. Aren’t these one or two centuries in the Bangla series will only add to their numbers?. I would like to see a player contributing 50 to win a match. Not these egoistic idiots making whole nation and the followers down.

Well said Mukul, your analysis on VVSL is spot on. There should not be any contention for VVSL’s place in the team, he should be an automatic choice. If you have to leave openers/ any middle order fine leave them.

I can't remember watching some of the Indian greats of Gavaskar’s and his prior generation cricketers as I was too young to follow the cricket, but in this generation, I think VVSL is one of the finest cricketers produced by India, he more than deserves a place in both forms of cricket as he is neither old nor inferior batsmen in comparison to the current players lot. And he truly stands alongside SRT, Dravid with sheer merit of batting skills. Look at the past 5-6 yrs of Indian cricket history, we had won & saved some memorable matches in tests as well as ODI's, and in all-most all of those miracles have to refer VVSL’s contribution. VVSL anchors the innings better than anybody else in difficult circumstances, I agree he is not a great fielder in the outfield, but he is very very safe fielder in slips and close in positions. It is not worth to replace VVSL with second class stuff , as they are far from matching VVSL batting skills.

If fans still have to argue it will be just for the sake argument, but we can take nothing out of VVS ability and achievements.
In my opinion, Saurav achievements as skipper revolves around VVS and Rahul and Anil. They were rocks time and again to crown India, but Rahul should not have been skippering India. He is useless thinker as skipper. The only match we win until VVS joined the SA tour was the tour match in which he showed what it means skippering.

Dear posters, Ganguly never should be a compitetor for VVSL (for that matter even WJ, DK, ot Dhoni). Mr Ganguly has done some good things as skipper but he is completely out of touch since few years (thanks to Dalmiya for retaining out of form Ganguly for years, do not pick up bloody SA tour). I would have liked to see Ganguly’s last handshake in international cricket after the WC07. If Ganguly had the true spirit for the team, then we would gone into next stage of the tournament (don’t take me wrong).
Is anybody remembered where we were in the WC07? Was there any country which retained their skipper and the players who were maliciously undermined the team’s interests. I think this the bigger context to look at, and for me Saurav should have been kicked out of the team without second thought. I am afraid boys, if you are a Bengali, we will respect for some of the hero’s the Bengal had produced but, in the case of Saurav no excuse.

The years efforts were invested on the tournament preparation, like we selected Greg and we had given more than a fair run to the skipper Dravid (I.e. the BBCI announced a shipper for two years in a trot, which was history in world cricket) and we had persisted with non-performers for 10 to 20 matched on the trot. Even then the team management failed miserably not even joining second stage of the WC 07 competition. Was that NOT a shame enough to kick Dravid out of the post? Do you want to give 10 years to Dravid for 40% of winning matches? We were diverted by the lesser issues. What the brainless Sharti can bring to the team as manager, I say nothing. He was more than a idiot in the making of the Indian team.

How many times and again you keep on ignore VVS from the team, were these Demo-gods had brought pie nuts to the country with their abilities. How many WC they involved? Why are we persisting with them to make ourselves fools. Aren’t these one or two centuries in the Bangla series will only add to their numbers?. I would like to see a player contributing 50 to win a match. Not these egoistic idiots making whole nation and the followers down.

Well said Mukul, your analysis on VVSL is spot on. There should not be any contention for VVSL’s place in the team, he should be an automatic choice. If you have to leave openers/ any middle order fine leave them.

I can't remember watching some of the Indian greats of Gavaskar’s and his prior generation cricketers as I was too young to follow the cricket, but in this generation, I think VVSL is one of the finest cricketers produced by India, he more than deserves a place in both forms of cricket as he is neither old nor inferior batsmen in comparison to the current players lot. And he truly stands alongside SRT, Dravid with sheer merit of batting skills. Look at the past 5-6 yrs of Indian cricket history, we had won & saved some memorable matches in tests as well as ODI's, and in all-most all of those miracles have to refer VVSL’s contribution. VVSL anchors the innings better than anybody else in difficult circumstances, I agree he is not a great fielder in the outfield, but he is very very safe fielder in slips and close in positions. It is not worth to replace VVSL with second class stuff , as they are far from matching VVSL batting skills.

If fans still have to argue it will be just for the sake of argument, but we can take nothing out of VVS ability and achievements.
In my opinion, Saurav achievements as skipper revolves around VVS and Rahul and Anil. They were rocks time and again to crown India, but Rahul should not have been skippering India as he is useless thinker as skipper. The only match we won until the tests started in SA tour was the tour match in which VVS showed what it means skippering. He could have been a skipper of India, we would have seen a true captain like Stephen Flemming or Ricky Ponting or Nasir Hussain......I am sorry my post looks strange, but sometimes you have to make strange choices, which is what makes the team great.. Look at Nasir Hussain, what he made to the England team ( we just have to compare his achievements with one of the greatest skipper of ENG).

While I agree with most of what Mukul has written, I must take issue with his contention about the 5 bowler formula. It's cricketing wisdom (CW) that to win a test, you have to take 20 wickets, for which you need bowlers. Great if you have penetrating and consistent ones, even otherwise it makes sense to play 5 bowlers. Suppose the fifth bowler is not a match winner in his own right. An economical fifth bowler can serve as an important member in the bowling attack at least to keep a lid on things for 10-12 overs in a full 100 over innings, while the main strike bowlers take a break. The major stumbling block in the Indian team is frequent injuries to bowlers (or one of the 4 bowlers having a bad day -- think Bhajji or Zaheer), and the captain ends up using a strike bowler as a stock bowler and puts him at further injury risk. Especially so when cricket is being played in hot humid conditions and far more frequently than is good for the body.

The most egregious instance I can think of of Indians going in with too few bowlers was by the "great" Tendulkar as captain. He showed his pique at having been "saddled" with Dodda Ganesh in SA by going into a test with 4 bowlers one of was Ganesh, who was bowled for under 10 overs. Poor Srinath was used as a stock bowler, and sure enough injured his shoulder, keeping him out for the WI series that followed (making way for a couple of Mumbai bowlers, of course!). Boycott, inm his inimitable style said something like, "How tall's this Srinath? 6'-1"? Oi can tell you he'll be 5' nuthin by the time this tour is over..."

The Oz 4-bowler formula works because they have a bowler rotation policy that keeps the bowlers time to recover, and the bench is match-ready and fit. And as Mukul has noted, one or two of the batsmen can fill in as bowlers for the 10-12 overs.

About VVS, he's in the Vishy-Azza golden thread of delightful batsmen to watch. A good batsman who's
10 centuries + 27 fifties at 42.41 in 130 (-15) innings is a bit short of true greatness, and just a shade better than Ganguly's. Ganguly is the only lefty in the line-up (other than the overrated Yuvraj).

I think "process" means a rotation policy -- bringing in a younger player for a few matches to build a match-ready squad of around 20.

The only logic in Dravids favour will be that Ganguly's inclusion means there is a left-hander in our lineup. But still I think that Laxman is talented enough to replace even Dravid for the no. 3 spot(as he did in past). Now playing 5 bowlers itself is a faulty strategy as it means that we are not playing on our strength. We must see that bowling is not our strength, it had never been and looking at current young talent, its not going to be for next 4-5 years. We are still waiting for first genuine fast bowler for India. People like Munaf, Zaheer are either dependent on pitch and conditions or their luck to shine. Also the future of spin doesn't looks too bright after seeing just two talented spinners(Harbhajan and Chawla) emerging in last 10 years. So why not Dravid plays on our strength which is our batting lineup(though many people will doubt it after World Cup) After all a good batting line up ensures u r not going to loose to badly against teams like Australia. Remember it was India's batting that made last Australia tour famous. So Dravid should understand that he doesn't need to change policies made by earlier captains to establish himself as one among greats. He just needs to execute things better because being brave is good but stupid is not.

Just thought I might add this bit -

Dravid : 6 - 789 - 217 - 87.66 - 3 - 3
Sachin : 10 -1074 - 193 - 71.60 - 4 - 4
Ganguly: 6 - 666 - 136 - 74.00 - 3 - 3
Laxman : 4 - 199 - 74 - 39.80 - 0 - 1
Sehawag: 4 - 237 - 106 - 39.50 - 1 - 1
Jaffer : 2 - 59 - 53 - 14.75 - 0 - 1

This is India's batting experience in test matches in England. A collective one of 32 matches, of which Sachin alone has played 10. None of the other batsmen have played a test in England before.

Unless current form impinges for/against anyone, these look to me the obvious starters for the English tour, in that order.

Laxman is Indian Selectors BIYATCH!!!!! They will use and throw him as they want and as long as he is taking it they will give it to him and ne doesnot he have any god fathers/corporate office standing behind him. Sorry can't help you! Though I personally believe that he should have/could have/would have reached the pedastal the trinity (RD,SRT and SG) share given more chances until now. Not anymore.

if BCCI really wanted to see things change and had even a iota of pride in themseleves, they would not have opted for Sachin, Sourav, Sehwag, Mongia and Laxman including for either of the teams that went for B'desh nor should they consider them for England. What was the message 'pick young team' which would eliminate all the aforementioned and invest in youngsters even if it means we would be loosing the series. (We might never the less, atleast would have an excuse that there was no experienced players).

To give credit to BCCI , they did some good by dropping Bhajji, Agarkar who were easier scrapegoats for all the flak from media and public following the WC 07 disaster than dropping the 'STARS'. There is still lot of housekeeping to be done to the team and its management.

Ideally,I would be investing on this line-up

1. Wassim Jaffer - Looks like a solid opener
2. Manoj Tiwary/Sehwag/Gambir/others - Karthik should only be a stop/gap arrangement,
3. Rahul Dravid/Laxman/Sehwag/others - (coincidentally are my current and future captains incl Yuvi and Kaif)
4. Yuvraj Singh/Laxman/Others - Yuvi is the future, there's no doubt
5. Mohd. Kaif/ Suresh Raina - Any one on rotational and form basis
6. MS Dhoni/Karthik - Only one plays on a rotational basis
7. Anil Kumble - Anil bhai should get break on-and-off for longevity
8. Romesh Powar/Prajyan Ohja/Piyush Chawla - Only one plays on a rotational basis
9. Irfhan Pathan/Randeb Bose/Others - Bowler 80%, 20% Batsmen in allrounder mold
10.Zaheer Khan - So far so good after the comeback
11.Munaf Patel/Sreesanth - Any one on rotational and form basis

12. One reserve opener
13. One wicket keeper
14. One fast bowler
15. One spin/fast bowler depending upon where you play.

I would say 6 1/2 batsmen + 4 1/2 bowlers, it should be taken for granted that at least one of your bowler will have a bad day or match so you will have for all 4 bowlers only at any point. 6 batsmen including the wicket keeper is a must given the inconsistency of our team. The extra half a batsmen should supposedly be the all-rounder which we unfortunately we never seem to have one.

Choosing Laxman over Ganguly good option, but considering Tendulkar's form and struggle to score, why not pick Laxman over Tendulkar. Prior to the Bangla Series for quite few tests Laxman has had a better record than Tendulkar. What's worse; after having runs under the belt against Bangladesh, one might have misplaced confidence in him for the England and future series. To see the average of such a venerable cricketer being reduced to that of a mediocre player, it saddens many hearts. More importantly though, the Indian should treat Laxman better than a handy life raft.

Hi AVM,Amandeep & K.P.Kumar,
I just checked the comments column this evening.

Thank you for the support towards VVS.I think we should form a VVS Fan Club.

I just hope & pray once again that I my wish & your wish of seeing VVS score of lots of rund in future series comes true.

Once again thank u KP,AVM & amandeep for the support for VVS.

Regards
BVR

Here we go again!!!! Though for once it seems, atleast from the feedback I have cursorily glanced at, that people are finally seeing through the facade of Ganguly. I will never tire of saying that he is one of the (if not THE) most selfish cricketers in the world. The means that he has resorted to to stay on in the Indian team would have embarrassed most others around the world. Even school cricketers have more self respect and decorum. I have said this before - I guess when one is a 13 year old schoolboy, there is room for a batsman to hope that his partner fails - BUT it is a culture that belongs to a 13 year old mindset and no more. The 13 year old mindset might also sometimes harbour delight when his team loses under a peer's captaincy, but again it is but a 13 year old mind.

But let's get real here - the games have now gone on endlessly, starting with the mind games that Ganguly played with Laxman in Zim, and all that has ensued. Will Laxman always be the man to play Australia, England in their backyards, whilst Ganguly plays backyard school attacks on placid wickets? Besides, we all know who would win the battle as a team player between the two (that perhaps may not be Ganguly's fault since he might not have heard of the term "team player"!!). And we all know who is the better slip fielder. What Ganguly was good at was blowing his own trumpet, though despite all his so called wins, he still didn't manage what Dravid already has - a series win outside of the sub-continent!!!!

Even in fast and bouncy pitches india's seamers wont be a threat to engilsh Test batsmen and aren't likely to be troubled by indian whatever(surely overrated) spin. Poor india...their media hype...over rated cricketers...nd lack of pure talents in a country of 1 billion has surely destroyed their expectation and morale.

I totally agree with one of the statement that unbiased cricket lovers will like Laxman.

When the matches with the better oppositions starts then u will see regular injuries to the so called great players. Then Laxman will get a chance, till then as long as we playing with minnows dont expect him to get a chance, as its a chance for our great players to improve their career stats. It would have been great cricket if Laxman was born in some other cricket playing nation than in India.

All i can say is thanks Rahul. From the time he made 167 in Sydney in 2000, all Aussies have been worried about his ability. Don't play him and you'll be lucky to win a test in oz. Karthik and Ganguly might have done well against Bangladesh but look at the bowlers they have to face in the next six months: Harmison, Flintoff, Jones(Maybe), Asif, Lee, Tait and Clark. As the great Steve Waugh once said "If you get Tendulkar out, great. But if you get Laxman, that's a Miracle". I can't think of any higher compliment. GO AUSSIES!!!

Listen India has always had a problem with letting senior players go. Remember Kapil Dev in the early nineties kept playing only to break Hadlee's record. He had lost his pace and swing. Something similar is happening with Tendulkar who i think continues to play in order to consolidate his records. Still i have always been a fan of Sachin's nobody can deny the fact that that for a period of about seven years everyone switched off the telly once he got out. He was that good and that crucial! But it is true that he is nothing but a shadow of his former self. I think tour of England will be the most pivotal tour of his career. Sourav Ganguly on the other hand deserves his place mainly because he has been the most consistent batsman in the team since his return beides maybe Dinesh Karthik who has been impressive. Laxman should be in the test side but not at the expense of Ganguly. Dhoni does not merit a place in the test side because he is an inferior keeper to Karthik and also his batting technique is immeasurably flawed and will be tested in England. Maybe Dhoni should get the axe.

Karthik doesn't deserve to be dropped, he represents the future of Indian cricket. Ganguly and Tendulkar should just go before they begin to embarass themselves. Both can be described as Jacques Kallis-lites, in that they also seem to play for their statistics, but do it to a poorer standard than Kallis.

On current form,VVS Laxman is no match for Sourav Ganguly.Ever since his comeback,Sourav has shown the grit & flair that was his calling card in his pomp.Indeed,it seems that he is yet to reach his best! VVS Laxman is a really good batsman but he is a suspect against moving ball.Simply playing some good hooks & pulls do not make you a good player of fast bowling.
On regards to VVS Laxman being favoured by Australia,this is the biggest joke ever heard.Laxman would hardly find a place in the Australia A team.Laxman is not even half as effective as Andrew Symonds or the new opener Phil Jaques.
The England series should be make or break in Tendulkar's career.He has been a liability in the team in recent times & is past not only his best,but is past decency as well.If he fails against England,there should be no doubt in dropping him.Even if he does poorly & still retains his place,then Indian cricket should be termed as the most laughable thing in the World as the statement " INDIANS PLAY FOR PERSONAL GLORY ONLY " has already been proved beyond any doubt...

Hello BVR,
We can only pray n hope that we will see Lamxan plays for India again. Iam very disappointed with the politics played by selectors and the indian cricket team management (shastr, dravid etc....).
Unless Laxman gets some commercial advertisements!!! what is your email addreess BVR?
we can keep in touch and plan for a fan club as u suggested!

Let me first make it clear that Im nothing short of a Tendulkar devotee.

While dropping Laxman is a crime, I would go further than just retaining Laxman in the team. I think it is high time he is given the well deserved number four spot. With Sachin and Sourav both not being the stroke players they once were, India need the boundary hitting, attack grinding capabilities of Laxman at number four. It would also hedge Sachin and Sourav (by all means not as quick against the moving ball as they once were) from the new ball that much longer.

He should not only be in the team, but

a. Should be made the vice captain AGAIN
b. Should take up the number four slot
c. Should be picked ahead of Sourav if playing five bowlers.

All time great Steve Waugh said about laxman :"If you get Dravid, great. If you get Sachin, brilliant. If you get Laxman, it's a miracle."