Ganguly declared fit to take the field again on Thursday
Ganguly declared fit to take the field again on Thursday
Agence France-Presse, Mumbai, India
Ousted India captain Sourav Ganguly has a chance to revive his
faltering cricket career from Thursday after being cleared to
play following an elbow injury.
Ganguly, 33, was passed fit by the India cricket board doctor
and the national team's physiotherapist who examined the left-
hander's elbow, an official said on Wednesday.
"Sourav has been given the go-ahead to play," cricket board
official Ratnakar Shetty said.
Ganguly will lead East Zone against North Zone in the domestic
Duleep Trophy first-class match starting in Rajkot on Thursday,
hoping to regain batting form and force his way back into the
national team.
Ganguly was axed as India captain last week and replaced by
Rahul Dravid for a series of seven one-day internationals against
Sri Lanka and five more against South Africa over the next five
weeks.
The left-hander, one of only four batsmen in the world to
score 10,000 one-day runs, was not picked in the Indian team for
the first two matches against the Sri Lankans, at Nagpur next
Tuesday and Mohali on October 28.
But a good performance in domestic cricket could not only see
him return to the one-day squad but also stay in the leadership
race in case India falters under Dravid.
Ganguly has been dogged by poor form and fitness problems in
recent months, contributing just 48 in three home Tests against
Pakistan early this year.
He scored a century against Zimbabwe in the opening Test at
Bulawayo last month, but his painstaking six-hour knock against
the weakest attack in international cricket did not satisfy
critics.
Ganguly and coach Greg Chappell were involved in a public spat
in September with the coach saying in a leaked e-mail to Indian
cricket chiefs that the captain was unfit to lead the team.
Ganguly, the most successful India captain with 21 Test
victories, is the fourth batsman in one-day cricket to complete
10,000 runs after compatriot Sachin Tendulkar, Sri Lankan Sanath
Jayasuriya and Pakistan's Inzamam-ul-Haq.
Two Indian legends, Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, had mixed
feelings about Ganguly's possible return to the international
stage.
"It will not be easy for Sourav," Dev, one of the game's great
all-rounders, told AFP.
"It will be difficult to play under someone else. The only
thing Sourav needs to do is score a lot of runs so that the
selectors cannot ignore him any more."