No more playing with Ganguly's career, Kirmani pleads More

New Delhi, Mar 15 (UNI) Chief selector Kiran More drew flak from his predecessor Syed Kirmani who claimed More should stop playing around with the career of deposed Team India skipper Sourav Ganguly.

Reacting to recent comments attributed to More that Ganguly should not expect a comeback as long as the present set of selectors were in the office, Kirmani questioned who More was to end the career of a player, Ganguly in this case.

''If this kind of statement was really made, it was grossly unwarranted and unfair. Ganguly or any other player, who he (More) is to drop curtain on a cricketer's career?'' Kirmani asked in the SportsCenter programme on ESPN-STAR Sports last night.

''This kind of statement should not have been made. In fact the way our selectors handled the Ganguly issue left much to be desired.

This is just not the right way,'' Kirmani said.

The former stumper was also critical of coach Greg Chappell's interview to a British daily where the Aussie alleged Ganguly wanted to cling on to captaincy for, amother others, financial reasons.

''What Chappell has said about Ganguly's personal life, shouldn't have been said. He should have confined his views to the game itself and these kind of comments were not fair on Ganguly,'' he said.

On whether India should look beyond the former captain, Kirmani had his idea clear.

''Performance should be the only criterion for selection, not age or any other thing. The young players are doing well today and you are thinking in terms of future but who knows what's going to happen tomorrow,'' he added.

UNI AY VC1312