The plot against Rahul Dravid

By John Cheeran
The Times of India reports that there are three selectors who are known backers of Sourav Ganguly. That itself constitutes simple majority in a five-man selection committee.
Then, I am told, there is one fence sitter. So that means selection committee is full of Ganguly supporters.
Jagmohan Dalmiya runs BCCI by remote control. BCCI President Ranbir Singh Mahendra assures Calcutta that Ganguly can walk into the Indian team, provided Rahul Dravid's India loses one more match.
The board elections will take place only on November 29 and 30 when Sharad Pawar might get a chance to wreck Dalmiya's dirty designs on Indian cricket.
There is not much time left now to ensure that Maharaj returns to his fiefdom. So a selection committee meeting which was initially earmarked for November 28, after the Mumbai one-dayer, has been brought forward.
Now National selectors will announce the captain for the Test series against Sri Lanka tonight -- after the end of the third ODI against South Africa --. And on Wednesday they will declare the team for next two one-dayers and Test series against Sri Lanka.
Take a pause.
Whose idea is it that selectors have to wait till the end of the third one-dayer against South Africa, -- till midnight -- to declare the captain for the Test series?
Can the difference of one run between India and South Africa determine who should lead India into the future? I admire Rahul Dravid for having the courage to deal with the snakes in the Indian cricket control board room.
It all fits neatly into the Ganguly Gang's design. After Ganguly's miserable pair against Zaheer Khan in Ahmedabad, Board President Mahendra makes noises about Maharaj's imminent return in New Delhi.
Then in Calcutta, Ganguly says he is ready to do anything, to play anywhere the team wants him. He declares that he has no problem with Greg Chappell. Oh really...
As for Dalmiya, he consoles Ganguly every night that he will be given his favourite toy, the captaincy soon.
All sorts of theories are floated by the email-leaking media lobby. Separate captains for one-dayers and Tests! Well that idea has been killed even by Australia after Steve Waugh's exit.
So be ready for surprises tonight.
Will Sourav Ganguly be brought back as captain for the Test series against Sri Lanka by a selection committee in which majority root for a man out of form and out of touch with realities?
Can Kiran More-led committee go against the grain? Are they foolish enough for a move that will drag India to the depths of defeats?
It is possible. In fact the only way Ganguly can return to Indian team now is by the privilege of captaincy, especially into the Test team. Everytime Ganguly was left out of the one-day squad, the Calcutta chorus has been singing "He has got 10,000 runs."
The consensus has been that Ganguly is a good one-day player. He can hit out against spinners. The pluses of his batting are neutralized by his lazy attitude on the field.
And Rahul Dravid's Team India has proven that without the burden of Maharaj, they can win in a much more authentic fashion. So a good one-day player was ignored during the ODI series. Nothing happened. Except, India’s wins.
So why should he play in Tests at the cost of youngsters like Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif? Should India leave out VVS Laxman and bring in Ganguly?
As the final card, Ganguly Gang has even issued an empty threat to find Maharaj at least a place in the Test side, if not in the ODI squad—Calcutta would erupt when Dravid’s India play South Africa at Eden Gardens on November 25.
Who knows, this may be the first time mobsters will be selecting an Indian team.
There may not be a match in Chennai today. But there will be enough drama when Kiran More opens his mouth.