Decision to drop Ganguly was correct: Chandershekher

New Delhi, Oct 9 (UNI) Former national selector VB Chandershekher has defended the decsion to drop Saurav Ganguly from the squad.

In an interview to Cricinfo Magazine, Chandershekher said the decision reached during his term as selector to drop the former skipper was correct.

''In the case of Ganguly we probably did the right thing by dropping him, but before that there was a chance to talk to him and say 'look here maybe you should step down from the captaincy and continue as a player. Let's see how you can contribute to the team'.

Ideally the chairman should take it on himself to speak to the player and explain things to him, perhaps during the meeting itself before news goes to the media,'' he said.

''It became like a taboo for anyone to say he still wanted Ganguly. I don't think any selector could have stuck his neck out then and said 'I still think Ganguly can contribute'. Even today there might be a way for Ganguly to contribute. But that is up to whether you want to fit him in or not.'' He also said that there was need for improvement is the handling of out-of-form players.

''We take a player on till he fails continuously and eventually gets dropped with no chance of making a comeback. We did that with Parthiv Patel and it actually cost us a Test at Chennai. It's a simple thing to recognise that someone's form is bad, give him a break and later bring him back in. Somehow there's a feeling that the new guy coming in will throw the other man out and he'll never come back.

Parthiv threw someone out and came into the side, then Dinesh Karthik threw him out and soon Dhoni threw Karthik out. And now when Dhoni is struggling, you have a couple of ready options in Karthik and Patel. But why aren't we using them?'' he asked.

''The problem with continuous change (of selectors) is that it is always the established stars who are telling you what's good for the team. Indian cricket needs selectors who can refute this sort of thing,'' he added.

UNI HSB PDS VV1819