Is Ganguly heading Dravid way?

Jaipur, Nov 18 (UNI) The dropping of Sourav Ganguly for the fifth and final one-day international against Pakistan here today came as a surprise and now it looks that the former captain is heading towards the same path in which his successor Rahul Dravid is walking at present.

Named in the 12 for this game after Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and Rudra Pratap Singh were ''rested'', according to cricket manager Lalchand Rajut, Ganguly was left out when the playing XI was named after the toss.

And this has started questions as to whether this would be the end of the road (at least in limited overs cricket) for Sourav Ganguly who made his return to the side ahead of the World Cup after a 14-month hiatus during the Greg Chappell-Rahul Dravid era.

Ganguly has played in 30 games after his comeback and aggregated 1120 runs with 10 half-centuries and a best of 98.

The current series, however, have seen him slump somewhat.

Scores of 39 at Guwahati, six at Mohali, another 39 at Kanpur and five at Gwalior meant that there would be pressure on him, especially with the series decided and batsmen waiting in the wings.

Officially, it is being said that Ganguly has been ''rested'', but the marked manner in which he sat -- for long periods by himself -- just outside the boundary near the dressing room told its own tale.

And the same treatment was given to Rahul Dravid, who cut a forlorn figure at Mumbai after being 'rested' in the last match against Australia.

Meanwhile, there was more action off the field then on the ground as Shahrukh Khan hogged the limelight. It seems King Khan is everywhere these days.

Fresh from the success of home production Om Shanti Om, which is creating waves worldwide, the superstar was at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium this afternoon along with co-star Deepika Padukone, dark wraparounds and all, to cheer on Team India.

Such has been the good fortune of his association with the Boys in Blue that whenever he has been present India have won.

It happened most notably at the Twenty20 World Cup final at Johannesburg where India beat Pakistan off the last ball. The next time he was ''visibly'' on show was the Twenty20 game against Australia with India winning again.

UNI