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Should Sourav Ganguly drop himself down to the middle order?
The Offside
He's one of the most explosive openers in the world when it comes
to One-Day Internationals. His ability to get going from the word
go and exploit the gaps in the field created by the field restrictions in
the early overs is unrivalled in the present Indian team. He is the Lord
and master of all he purveys on the off side, and yet there is a suggestion
that he should drop himself down to the middle order? That simply defies
all logic!
If you're the kind of person who likes numbers, take a look at the
statistics. As an opener, Sourav Ganguly has played 147 innings for India.
In those knocks the Indian captain has amassed 6132 runs at an average of
45.42. That in itself is an exemplary record. Now pit this against the 18
occasions when Ganguly has batted in the middle order.
A mediocre return of 516 runs at an average of 32.25!
What's more, Ganguly has never scored a century when he has not
opened the innings. A best of 85 in the middle order simply pales
in comparison to the career best 183 the Bengal Tiger scored against Sri
Lanka at Taunton in the World Cup. A truly matchwinning knock
that.
With the Indian batting line up missing the experience of Sachin Tendulkar,
solidity is the need of the hour. Rahul Dravid has found
the going tough with the ball not coming onto the bat on slow wickets. VVS
Laxman has made starts without going on to make big scores. The rest of the
batting line up lacks experience and simply cannot be trusted blindly.
India desperately needs Ganguly to spend more time
at the wicket and make centuries. He's made 16 tons opening the innings and
not a single one in the middle order.
The Indian captain is at his best when he is opening the innings.
If India are to do well in the absence of Tendulkar it is imperative that
Ganguly is at his best. There can be no two ways about it -
Ganguly simply must open the innings.
The Evidence:
The Onside
You can never force someone to do something against his will. If someone
wants to bat in the middle order and he is forced to open
the innings, chances are, he will fail. Now the person we are talking about
is not just anyone. The Indian captain, Sourav Ganguly, feels that the
team's interests are best served when he bats lower down in the order. When
India fails, Ganguly is the one taken to task. Therefore it is only fair
that he is given a chance to try out the various options at hand.
The youngsters in the Indian team have done precious little to inspire
confidence. Ganguly himself said at a press conference after India's second
loss in the Coca-Cola Cup, "They have the ability, but then they have to
perform on the field of play. It would really help if the youngsters in the
middle order got some runs." As a captain, Ganguly has backed all the
youngsters - Yuvraj Singh, Hemang Badani, Reetinder Sodhi and Virender
Sehwag to the maximum extent possible and yet the batting order looks brittle.
If Ganguly opened the innings and was dismissed early, the Indian batting
is like a rudderless ship. With wickets in hand and overs to spare they
seem to lose the way. If opening the batting is an issue, the Indians can
always try out the other two experienced members in
the batting line up - Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. Not ruling that
out, Ganguly said, "We are looking into that as an option." It's time they
did look at that option seriously.
The best reason in favour of Ganguly's move to the middle order
comes in the form of an opposition bowler - Muthiah Muralitharan.
The magical Lankan offspinner has bamboozled the Indian batting
with his big spinners. Yuvraj Singh and Sehwag have been all at
sea playing Murali. While Dravid has managed to survive Murali, he
has struggled to get after the offie. The only batsman in the
Indian team to successfully take on Murali is Ganguly. With that
being the case, Ganguly must push himself down the order in the interests
of the team.
The Evidence:
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