Back to square one

In a short period where 8 ODIs were played, we saw first, a rejuvenated Indian team demolish Sri Lanka and thought that the worst was behind. The land oohed and aahed about Tendulkar being at his inspirational best, Dhoni and Pathan donning new roles and Rahul Dravid inspiring the nation with his captaincy. The nation also got an idea about the kind of coach that Chappel is. Then the Proteas land in Hyderbad and give us a dose of reality. We are not there yet but Yuvraj's century and the tail's support show that all's not lost either. But the defeat has also revived the Ganguly saga. The media is flooded with Ganguly titbits. Frankly, there isnt a lot new.

Anand Vasu has his say on Ganguly's imminent comeback. As usual, there are unnamed sources giving information. One such source said,

"If India do exceptionally well in the next couple of matches, and beat South Africa convincingly, then again it will be similar to the situation during the Sri Lanka series, and the selectors will find it hard to pick Sourav," the source said.

And finally, this:

The elections for the post of president, and other office bearers, takes place during the Annual general Meeting on November 29 and 30, and this is crucial. If the Jagmohan Dalmiya-backed Mahendra camp is defeated, and Sharad Pawar takes office, it will become infinitely harder for Ganguly to return to the team. "If Ganguly has to make a comeback then now is the time," the source revealed. "If Pawar comes into power it may be too late for Ganguly."

It is a pity that the comeback of a player of Ganguly's stature depends on elections, factions and board politics, rather than on performance and fitness. No wonder, the cricketing world uses BCCI as an object to embarass us Indians.

Ganguly makes the right sounds in a short interview. Once again, nothing of note except that he is ready to play under anybody and work with Chappel, whom he respects a lot.