Bindra accuses Dalmiya of betraying Ganguly

Jagmohan Dalmiya has dismissed claims of conspiring against Sourav Ganguly © Getty Images

Jagmohan Dalmiya, former president of the Indian board, has rubbished allegations that he was in any way involved in the ouster of Sourav Ganguly from the Indian team.

IS Bindra, president of the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) wrote on the association's website on Saturday that Dalmiya caused Ganguly's removal from the team for his own political purposes.

But according to a report on Rediff, Dalmiya told reporters that the allegations were "ridiculous and nonsensical." Dalmiya said, "Let them decide once and for all what they will call me. Once they say I am Sourav's godfather and then again they say I am blocking his entry to the side. The allegations are ridiculous and nonsensical.

"But let me tell you one thing, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari if any deserving player is blocked from entering Team India due to some petty politics, it will not go unprotected."

Dalmiya also revealed that he had spoken to Ganguly about this. "This was done with the specific intention to remove his focus and attention from the game. I called him up last night and told him not to be perturbed by it. I also told him to play his game.

"He is too great a player. He has played for India on his own merit and has captained India on his own merit as well. He will come back to the national side on his own. No one can stop that. Just look at the amount of runs he has scored and see if he needs any support to be in the side."

In a detailed write-up, Bindra says with apparent reference to Dalmiya, "Ganguly's present predicament and trauma have nothing to do with the equations in the board. He has unwittingly been dragged into the unsavoury happenings in Kolkata Cricket... That's how my friend from Kolkata plays his politics. He is prepared to sacrifice even his near and dear for his political survival.

"It is common knowledge that four out of five selectors report to Kolkata for instructions. Even Sourav may not believe the preposterous story that he's the victim of board politics. It is apparent as to who is calling the shots and if he looks back and pieces together the advice he got from various people, he can track down the real culprit responsible for his present misery."

Bindra also writes scathingly of the planning of Ganguly's exit, arguing that the moment Dalmiya "realised the elegant left-handed batsman has outlived his utility, he quickly seized the first available opportunity to dump him.

"See how carefully Sourav's exit was planned. Ever heard the board asking for an exhaustive report from a coach midway through the tour. And that too for what. If the board was interested in sorting out the spat between Greg and Sourav, its president or any other senior official should have rushed to Zimbabwe the moment the coach and the captain started fighting openly. Moreover, why such a confidential and explosive e-mail was asked to be sent to so many people."

Bindra further hints that the very public nature of Ganguly's row with Greg Chappell, the Indian coach, on the Zimbabwe tour, was also instigated by Dalmiya. "I have a sneaky suspicion that someone led Ganguly up the garden path by advising him to deliberately make his differences with Greg public. Then Greg was asked for his version. Then the mother of all leaks, a copy of the confidential e-mail from Greg was quietly handed over to a vernacular journalist."

Bindra says Dalmiya's aim behind leak was to deflect public scrutiny away from the AGM, a tactic that eventually backfired. "If Jaggu thought the leak would deflect public attention from his own trickery at the now aborted AGM, he was mistaken. The AGM was not put off because of the extraneous reasons but because of his bullying tactics of filibustering to delay the election."