Wriddhiman Saha Controversy Has Exposed 'Rift' Between Sourav Ganguly And Rahul Dravid School Of Thought

In less than three months, Sourav Ganguly has been 'exposed' by two current Indian cricketers - Virat Kohli and Wriddhiman Saha.

Soumitra Bose

Updated on: 23 February 2022 6:50 am

On Wriddhiman Saha's Test selection, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid don't seem to be on same page.

Sourav Ganguly's 'extended' tenure as president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India is becoming increasingly tumultuous. (More Cricket News)

After Virat Kohli literally exposed the former captain for lying on captaincy matters, Wriddhiman Saha has enforced a strong belief that what Dada says and what he does are two different things.

More importantly, it has once again raised questions if Sourav Ganguly is interfering in selection matters and head coach Rahul Dravid is not amused.

Kohli was bold enough to contradict Ganguly after he lost his ODI captaincy rather surreptitiously. In post-Ravi Shastri era, Kohli felt he was ambushed by the selection committee that acted on the orders of the BCCI bosses.

Wriddhiman Saha's axing from the Indian Test squad for the upcoming home series against Sri Lanka has once again shown Ganguly in poor light.

Although revealing a private WhatsApp conversation is completely unethical, Saha chose to tell the media that Ganguly had "assured him a spot in the Test squad as long as he was BCCI boss".

Saha cannot be glorified for his (mis)deed. Dressing room matters, private conversations and issues related to team selection always remain confidential. Saha, who has played 40 Tests, should have known that. Why he wept on the media's shoulder after not getting selected in the Test squad remains a mystery.

In BCCI's internal politics, will anti-Ganguly forces use this unsavoury incident to dislodge Dada from BCCI's hotseat? In any case, Ganguly and two other BCCI office-bearers have been overstaying defying the Supreme Court-approved Board constitution.

Saha added fuel to the controversy by exposing a rogue 'journalist', who threatened him for declining an interview. Even if Saha has chosen to keep everyone guessing on who this well-known scribe is, the core issue is not about the perceived threat.

The issue is that if Ganguly assured Saha a spot in the Test team, why did Rahul Dravid disagree?

Obviously, Dravid will not agree to Ganguly's diktat on selection matters. Dravid is known for his independent thinking and should be appreciated for being upfront with Saha.

Dravid did not deny the fact that he had indicated to Wriddhiman Saha that his time in the Test squad was up.

The head coach wants to groom a team for the future and in a year when Indians are playing just three Tests, it makes sense to try new wicketkeepers instead of reposing faith in a 37-year-old (Saha).

Dravid said Saha deserved 'honesty and clarity' on selection and hence the communication with Saha.

Unfortunately, communication is a massive problem in BCCI. Ganguly is known to selectively leak stories and one of his favourites is this 'journalist,' who threatened Saha.

They are two things that people outside the sporting system do not understand about 'Ypugate.' One is that how do journalists get to be so powerful so as to be able to threaten a test player.
— Joy Bhattacharjya (@joybhattacharj) February 22, 2022

Unlike his days as India captain, when a daring Ganguly was known to speak honestly and frankly with the media, administrator Ganguly is just the opposite man. He has lost that cutting edge.

The BCCI ecosystem, where no one trusts each other, has made Ganguly even more circumspect. It is perhaps poetic justice that one of India's best captains, a man who backed his team to the hilt, has been shamed by two current Indian players.