Axing of Ganguly, is it right?

The Men in blue have stuck excellent form in the One day format.

Just imagine if Ganguly walks out to open the innings with Sachin at this moment, Dravid coming at No.3 and Shewag coming at No.4 which he also prefers because the ball would have gone a bit old. Shewag will also have a nice time clobbering the spinners around the park. With Yuvaraj and Raina coming at 5 and 6, the batting looks quite impressive. Then we have the versatile Pathan and swashbuckling man from Jharkhand, both having the ability to bat at any position, the team will be unstoppable. When it comes to tests, Dada has not been a major force even at his prime and hence I would take Yuvaraj or Raina and groom them for future as the three musketeers Dravid, Sachin and Laxman will retire at almost the same time, 3 or 4 years from now. This is what my heart loves to do.

The question is does my brain also say Ganguly must be selected?

The answer is a clear no.

Ganguly is better than Sachin in offside, he is the most aggressive captain India had ever had. He changed the face of Indian cricket. I agree with all these.

I am not saying Ganguly must be out of the game because he is out of form. It is because he didn’t have fitness and didn’t care to improve it. He began to think as a captain, he is entitled for an automatic selection into the team irrespective of his form and fitness.

He thought that he is bigger than the game.

Be it be Sir Don Bradman, Vivan Richards, Courtney Walsh, Sachin Tendulkar, Imran Khan, anybody, anybody,

Nobody is ever greater than game.

Ganguly thought the otherwise, that’s why I want him out.

It might have been due to the rapport he had with Jagamohan Dalmiya which made him believe that he will be in the team at any cost or the adulation Indian media and public gave to him which may have gone to his head and bought him down.

I am also a die hard fan of Ganguly; I would love to watch Dada coming down the track to loft a spinner into the stands, play a cover drive which pierces a packed off-side field.
But, still he should not be there in the team; this must serve a lesson to him, a lesson to all, a lesson that nobody is greater than the game.

For those who pity that talent of Ganguly is being wasted, let me remind you of one thing. Ganguly may have backed many young players, but he backed some to a very large extent despite their poor form for a prolonged period. Few players also become over confident and complacent since their place in team was assured as long as Dada was at helm, that complacency in them led to the Indian cricket team’s downfall. Also many a talent like Hemang Badani, Wasim Jaffer was wasted because for a simple reason that Dada didn’t like them, so don’t feel sorry for the prince of Calcutta. He is reaping the fruits of his own labor.

The story of Ganguly reminds me of Julius Caesar.

Clemenceau recalled, not because it's toxic, but for prestige

The decommissioned French war ship Clemenceau has been recalled by the French president Jacques Chirac, four day prior to his visit to India.

If you think, it is because Chirac realized that the ship is laden with toxic asbestos, or it is because India's supreme court has ruled that the ship should not enter India as it is toxic or it is the fruit of the hard work carried out by Greenpeace and other human right, environmental and health NGOs against Clemenceau, it means you have been fooled.

The reason for the withdrawal of the ship is that, Jacques Chirac wants to avoid embarrassment when his visit to India starts today.

Don't joke that Chirac came to know about the toxic materials just now. The same French government only, which has recalled the ship now, had cleared the ship for dismantling in the ship breaking yards at Alang, India few months back.

How does it suddenly come to know that it's laden with toxic, that too just four days before the French president's visit to India?

The hasty decision clearly shows that this was done to avoid embarrassment for Chirac during his visit to India.

The irony is that nowadays the D-3 (Disgusting 3 - U.S.A, England and France, as I call it), never cares about other world countries. The D-3 doesn't seem to know that if a bullet pierces a man's heart he will die, regardless of whether he is a citizen or not of the D-3. They don't seem to know that usage of nuclear weapon by Israel or any other nation will cause damage beyond the wildest of the wild dreams of a normal man. They don't seem to know that wherever a ship having asbestos is dismantled, it might cause cancer. To them the World means U.S.A., England and France.

At this juncture, I want to make a mention about the hard work done by Greenpeace for bringing into notice about Clemenceau and it's campaign against Clemenceau dismantling at Gujarat. Without it, the ship would have been dismantled without a ruffle at the ship breaking yards of Gujarat.

Hats off Greenpeace, We are proud of you.