You can’t seem to listen to the cricket news these days without hearing some debate about the future fate of Indian cricket’s Fab Four, Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman and Ganguly. To be sure this is an unseemly situation for the fate of such class players to hang in the balance this way. Opinions seem to vary widely on this topic; while some believe that the Indian Cricket Team can’t do without them and that the selectors and the BCCI are treating them shoddily, others seem to think that they are well past their sell by date and ought to hang up their boots gracefully while they still have the chance.

The controversy surrounding the dropping of Saurav Ganguly from the Irani Trophy put the media in a frenzy of speculation whether he will be picked for forthcoming series or indeed ever again into the Indian Squad. It is debated whether he will even be given a chance to announce his retirement or whether he will simply fade into an ignominious obscurity. It is now widely believed that Ganguly has been chosen for the first two test matches in the ongoing series against Australia only so that he can bow out gracefully.

One former stalwart of the game Zaheer Abbas has come out and voiced his opinion in favour of the seniors, warning that if they, who have been the cornerstone of its strong batting line-up are left out of ongoing and upcoming matches, it would be a ‘grave mistake’. He, like a lot of others believes that the Indian Team can ill afford to do without the wealth of experience that the senior players bring to the team. Given their incredible collective contributions to Indian Cricket, the selectors could be said to have behaved disrespectfully towards them.  While this is a valid view; there being no substitute for talent and vast experience, the contrary view is also of some merit.

The senior players have lingered through bad form and public outcry against them refusing to announce their retirement even as people had begun to think that their continuing poor performance is a liability for the team. It is always a good policy to bow out when people are still asking ‘Why?’ rather than ‘When?’ Contrast their behavior with that of the Top Aussie Players and the manner in which Steve Waugh, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath called it a day, while they still had cricket left in them. It was a tribute to their own legend that they decided to retire when they did. Perhaps the Indian senior players would do well to emulate them!

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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