Name: S R Subramanian
Subject: Remove Ganguly
Message: High time that India should get a performing captain who can command and demand respect from other teammate. If a captain fails and team wins it is not worth keeping him as captain. He had an ample opportunity to prove his mettle on 4th day. He has exposed his weakness and proved that he is a very ordinary batsman. He should have shouldered the responsibility and exhibited his grittiness like Steve Waugh or Dravid. Sorry, but the Bengal Tiger is no longer roaring!
Name: Kiran Kadarla
Subject: Ganguly!!
Message: Does Ganguly deserve a place in Team India? He neither bowls nor bats and is a bad fielder. Even Dravid can be a great captain n moreover he is in exemplary form. Md. Kaif is a better batsman n a best fielder. Considering these Ganguly can be removed from the team for a place to Kaif or let him sit as a 12th man n pass on ideas.
Going by past performances and records is foolish. Can you play Kapil Dev in the team now? He is unfit now. But he WAS great. Similarly Ganguly. Take for example Australia. Mathew Hayden has three consecutives years of making 1000 runs (per year).... but failed in couple of series and he was left out!! When he assured his batting skills, again he is brought in...that's why Australia is number One!...India is "so called" No. two! And its called second most of the time by Ganguly himself. I assure yuo Dravid will be also be a good captain n moreover is exemplary to all other players in the team...
Name: Mohan Ramchandani
Subject: More cricket?
Message: We keep on hearing that there is a overdose of cricket in India and players need some rest. Check the records. Since last 2 years India has played the least cricket of all the nations. It will be interesting to know that that how many Test match and ODIs, India has played after world cup and how many other nations have played. Especially, I would be interested to know how much cricket Australia has played after the World Cup. And they have almost won everything. I don't really hear them talking about overdose of cricket. And after this Pak tour to India I don't see India playing again for several months where as all other countries will be busy playing.
Name: Shivam Mundra
Subject: Ganguly as Captain
Message: For last few days there has several question raised about Ganguly's captaincy. Well at this juncture, I feel that India have never produced a captain like Ganguly. Look at team India today and what was it earlier you yourself can make out the difference. There was never such enthusiasm among the boys as they have today. I don't give the credit only to Ganguly but to greater extent he is the man behind the coup. And regarding his form, everyone has ups and downs -- the class of Ganguly cannot be judged by a couple of Tests. He has the potential to shut everyone's mouth and he will do it again. So my dear cricket lovers don't get panicky and enjoy the heat. East or west our INDIA is the best.
Name: Anupam Pandey
Subject: Who's the best batsman in the Indian team?
Message: Well, I don't seam to get it? Why do people regard Sachin a better player than Rahul Dravid...when its a well known fact that Dravid is a more feared batsman in the longer version of the game...its not the first time when he has pulled India out of a crisis...he did it even against the mighty Aussies...but still why do we always go by records ...I can bet a million dollars & say that had Dravid played right from the age of 16 he would have accumulated more runs than any of the present day batsman...
Name: Gaurav Jain
Subject: Selection of team
Message: What is this Laxman doing here in the team? He should be kicked out and chances should be given to other players who are waiting to show their hands. Player's like laxman who play well once in a millennium should not even come close to the team.
Name: Nakul Kadaba
Subject: Form of indian players
Message: I believe that some of the Indian players are starting to show some signs of failure. Zaheer isn't like he was in the 2003 World Cup. Laxman has been fading since the tour of Australia 2004. Ganguly's batting, which has been brilliant in past years, has been going through a slow and painful decline. We should start giving some more players a chance to play in the Test team, like Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh would be an awesome pair in our batting line-up. Now I'm not saying we should drop some of these players permanently, but we should let them gather their thoughts together and after a year maybe, give them a trial and see how they do.
Name: Grahi
Subject: Obsession with Sachin
Message: Recently, the media have obsessed with Sachin. I do not understand why we have not changed since the Gavaskar times. I vividly remember that many of my friends used to take more pleasure in Sunny's century than Indian victory. At least, in those days, Indian victories were rare and the fans needed some reason for celebration and we remain indebted to Sunny's centuries for giving that reason. But what about now?
Times have changed India is winning more frequently. It is regarded as the best after Australia. Indian batting is admired even by Australia. More importantly, we are not just a Tendulkar team. We are Team India now. Let us enjoy Sachin's cricket and records but let us not wait for them. Let us wait only for Indian victories and put things in perspective.
Media have a big role to play in this. First, they should play down things surrounding Sachin's records and go full blast only when they happen. There is more coverage of Sachin's 50 and Bucknor's mistake than Rahul's masterly twin centuries. I do not know what media would have done if Sachin had scored 2 centuries instead of Rahul. Let us be honest. We are obsessed with Sachin. Let us not also put pressure on umpires. Steve made a mistake, yes, and Sachin was out. But, in the last Test, another umpire made a mistake and Sachin progressed to 94. My request to media is to highlight the right instances putting things in perspective. The common man will do star worship, but the media should be objective in the coverage of highlights.
Name: Naveen Krishna Chandra
Subject: Tendulkar, given out!
Message: The mistake that Bucknor made is only a human error. But as luck would have it, the error keeps happening only when the master blaster is batting. In this kind of ambiguous situations, when there is so much at stake for both the warring teams umpires are under enormous pressure, batsman should be given liberty to request the standing umpire to refer to third umpire. After all technology is there to assist human judgment.
In these edgy situations, the batsman is the best judge. If he knows he has knicked it, he would not request for third umpire. If this is enforced then the game will be played in the right spirit. Otherwise I have observed many times when umpires make mistakes, they try to even it out by making further mistakes. Like Rahul was caught plumb in front but Bucknor did not give it as i think he wanted to even out the mistake he made yesterday. The summary is two wrongs will not make a right.
Name: Kiran
Subject: Sack Ganguly; hire Steve Waugh!
Message: I think Ganguly has worn out the patience of even his staunchest supporters with his performance in the recent past firstly as a player and then also as a captain. Does anyone even have a FAINT recollection of the Maharaj, who used to be the prize record-breaking opener for Indian Cricket?
For whatever reason, Ganguly has fallen from grace as a batsmen and it has been long overdue that he turn in his cap and return to domestic cricket perhaps and try to find his old self. However, no one can deny the difference he has made to the team as captain and the aggressive attitude that has he has bought to the Indian Cricket team that has LONG been missing. This is the situation at present.
Keep Ganguly. And have a poor performer on the team - certainly a sad state of affairs when even Balaji, Pathan and Bhajji are scoring more than him on a regular basis or lose Ganguly and see a decline in the teams outlook. My friends, there is a third option. Make Dravid Captain. For once we can have a person who can lead from the front; is immune to pressure and is one of the best technical minds out there.
He has taken on multiple roles. He is the backbone of the indian batting line up, he was a wicket keeper till very recently and its a shame that we don't give him his due though the whole WORLD honors him as the best player of the year. He has the skills, the temperament, the respect of his teammates, his ethic is unquestionable and more over he has EARNED the position of captain.
We have to also keep in mind the void that will be created once John Wright Leaves. He has made an undeniable difference to Indian Cricket and we must choose a worthy successor once he is gone. WHO better than Steve Waugh?
Waugh has expressed his interest in the recent past. He would bring the cutting edge coaching know how of Australian cricket to India and would definitely instill the FIGHT into Indian Cricketers that even Wright was unable to do.
He took a normal team and made them into World Champions... and he shares a special connection with India and is loved dearly by this country. Indian Cricket does not have a lack of Talent, Money or Resources. Yet... we don't stake claim to even the 2nd spot in the world rankings.
The Indian Public has obviously been too patient too long. I think its time the Board stuck their neck out and gave the Indian Fans the kind of Indian Team they deserve.
