Even since the news of Virender Sehwag’s ouster spread like wildfire, comments have been pouring from all cricketing quarters. Showing his immense surprise over the dropping of dashing India opener Virender Sehwag, former skipper Sourav Ganguly Saturday said the present team captain MS Dhoni had a hand in the exclusion.
Sourav Ganguly has been on the ESPN Star Sports list of commentators and is regularly known to feature in cricket columns. Known for voicing against the discrimination against any cricketer, Ganguly’s comments and views are held in high spirits. It has to be remembered that Sehwag had a blast under the Bengal tiger’s leadership and it only got better under Dhoni. However, the recent slump is something that no one can understand. The picture is not the same ever since the famed Test cricket duo of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman retired to handle the mantle to younger crop of players.
"It would be wrong to assume that there are no inputs from Dhoni in selection matters. If a captain asks for a particular player it is difficult for the selectors to say no. So I believe there were inputs from Dhoni even if he may not attend selection meetings," said Ganguly.
"I am very surprised at his exclusion. If Sachin (Tendulkar) and Dhoni who have been struggling with their respective forms can be persisted with, then what's wrong with Sehwag," he asked.
Explaining about the situation of Sehwag and praising him as one of the all-time Test cricket greats, Ganguly said Team India will miss his presence.
"He has completely changed the grammar of Test match opening. The sheer number of runs and the manner in which he has scored them, India will miss his presence. His impact in the game is comparable only to greats like Sachin, (Rahul) Dravid and (Sunil) Gavaskar," he said.
The Bengal southpaw also refused to read much into the India's consecutive Test match wins against Australia in the ongoing four match home series.
"People have a very short memory. I am amazed at some people lauding team India's recent efforts. They seem to have forgotten that we were badly drubbed in 10 out of 13 test matches we last played," he added.
Sehwag was on Thursday dropped from the squad for the last two Tests against Australia, after failing to perform and impress the selectors.
Meanwhile, it was Sehwag who took it in his favor and said that he will return very soon. Gautam Gambhir was already dropped from the team because of the similar issues already. Most of the critics feel that it is almost end of roads for Sehwag unless anything extraordinary happens. Working back things to normalcy is not a simple thing to manage when you are representing the country at the top slot.
Few former cricketers feel that Sehwag deserves few more chances until he hits back form though he has already been enough time to prove himself. Hopefully, the Indian cricket fans will get to see more action from the Delhi player soon.
