Ganguly will get more attention in Johannesburg

By John Cheeran
The temptation to read too much into Sourav Ganguly's 83 against the Rest of South Africa on Thursday is irresistible.
Here is the man with the steel to rebuild the Indian middle order, you might as well say.
I'm hardly a Ganguly sympathiser but I'm impressed at the way he seized the first chance that came his way to salvage his foundering career.
Ganguly was under pressure to perform without wasting his time on the tour. And he has just done that with a gritty innings. For that alone Ganguly deserves immense credit.
Ganguly, however, was fortunate that he came into bat as No.5. Yes, he walked into a crisis with the departure of Wasim Jaffer, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar , he had a better chance to build an innings against a visibly tiring Morne Morkel and Hayward.
And you should not forget that it was not just Ganguly who scored runs for India.
The 21-year-old fast bowler Irafn Pathan has cracked an unbeaten century, the first century of the tour by an Indian batsman. Even Harbhajan Singh threw his bat around to get closer to a half-century.
I wish those who are going ga ga over Ganguly could find space for such thoughts.
It is one thing to score when everything goes in your favour in a tour game, quite another to come out with flying colours in a Test of technique and nerves.
Ganguly, I'm sure, will get more attention in Johannesburg.