County stint crucial for Ganguly - Shah

Niranjan Shah, the Indian cricket board secretary, has said that an impressive showing in the County Championship in England could earn Sourav Ganguly a recall to the national team. However, he reminded that the decision rested entirely with the selectors.

"If he plays and performs well in England and in domestic cricket [back home], it will be taken into consideration. But it is upto the selectors," Shah told PTI.

Ganguly, representing Northamptonshire, got off to a disastrous start in his first outing, scoring 2 and 0 against Worcestershire which concluded yesterday. Dropped from the Indian team since the tour of Pakistan, he insisted that he had not given up hopes of making a comeback. "I want to put runs on the board and get back into the national team," Ganguly said. "I'm not here from a financial point of view - it's important to perform. I still feel I've got a lot of cricket in me and every run will be watched."

When asked about Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, the West Bengal chief minister, writing a letter to the BCCI requesting Ganguly's inclusion, Shah said that it was natural for people from various quarters to give their opinion on such issues.

"Even Somnath Chatterjee [a member of parliament] has suggested for the inclusion of Ganguly in the national team. This is the normal thing."