Ganguly's gangplank

I’ve been avoiding getting into this silly “Should Saurav Ganguly retire?” debate. Part of the reason is, of course, that I’m a big fan of his pluck and derring-do, of him as a batsman and more so of him as perhaps India’s finest captain.

Admittedly the Big Four – Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman – didn’t have a good series in Sri Lanka. The batting cost India victory and Ganguly’s form was the poorest. As such, I wasn’t surprised when he was dropped for the Irani Trophy game.

Having said that, we’re about to enter a long and interesting Test match season – and it would be appropriate and fitting for Ganguly to walk out after a gripping innings in an international match, at the peak of his authority, having taken his own decision. Yet, time is running out for that aspiration. He says he has another two years in him, I’m not too sure. A few matches and perhaps part or even all of the coming season is plausible. Two years? Too long. India can’t wait

Having successfully rebuilt its one-day side after the trauma of the 2007 world cup and Greg Chappell’s fiendish reign, India has to willy-nilly effect a gradual generational change in the five-day squad as well.

The batting prospects look good. Sehwag and Gambhir seem settled as openers. Rohit Sharma, S Badrinath and Suresh Raina will be contenders for middle-order slots and, to my relief, the irresistible Mohammed Kaif is back in favour. Kaif should never have been outof favour. He was never given a chance to fail, only dumped unceremoniously even after decent innings. In contrast, Yuvraj Singh had his chances but has become India’s leading ODI game-changer rather than Test match mainstay.

With a new foursome – Kaif, Sharma, Badrinath and Raina – at the edge of the Test team, the selectors would need to calibrate the rejuvenation of the middle order. One by one, piece by piece, the brilliant veterans will have to be replaced. This is a special, delicate moment. India’s finest middle-order line-up is about to hand over responsibilities to a successor generation. It calls for enlightened action and sense of dignity from all concerned – the Old Guard, the Young Pretenders and the BCCI officialdom.

Granted Tendulkar will go only when he wants to and granted Laxman will probably be chaperoning the new middle-order, as the youngest and only survivor from the immediate past, for longer than many imagine. Even so, some harsh decisions will be called for. By the time India begins playing the first Test match in New Zealand at the end of March 2009, at least two names in the batting list should be playing for the future, not batting from memory.

Postscript: Ganguly’s far from done. It’s become a bit of a cliché to suggest that former cricketers or even outgoing cricketers have a lot to contribute but, often enough, it is difficult to find precise roles. Ganguly’s reputation as a fair-minded risk-taker, the rare Indian captain who was not just articulate but non-parochial too, makes him a shoo-in for the chief selector’s job.

Using the special powers now given to him to, essentially, appoint anybody he wants as selector, the BCCI president should fast-track Ganguly, as soon his playing days are over, into the job. He’s too committed to Indian cricket and too unprejudiced a mind to be left writing newspaper columns.