Controversy over Ganguly's omission yet to fizzle out

The controversy regarding Sourav Ganguly's omission from the Asia XI team for their match against the Rest of the World XI side is yet to fizzle out. Rumours are that the Indian captain may get a chance to play in place of Saeed Anwar who at the moment is indisposed. However, it is doubtful whether Ganguly will at all play in the match if he is a last minute inclusion.

Ganguly, on his own, is arranging a match at Siliguri on April 7. The match is an effort to raise funds for poor sportspersons in West Bengal. A part of the fund will also be donated to develop the stadium at Siliguri. Other than Ganguly, those who have confirmed their participation are Rahul Dravid, Sunil Joshi, Mohammed Azharuddin, Javagal Srinath and a host of other Indian cricketers. It will be a double wicket tournament involving a total of 22 players.

On Friday, Ganguly called up the State Urban Devlopment Minister Ashok Bhattacharya, who hails from Siliguri, to confirm his participation in the match. Bhattacharya is the main organiser and he had contacted Ganguly a couple of months back to organise such a match on behalf of the West Bengal Government. On Saturday, at the Writer's Building, Bhattacharya said, "When he called from Sharjah, I asked him whether he would be participating in the match. Ganguly said that the match at Siliguri is his first priority. He would even skip Dhaka if the necessity arose. I informed him that there was a possibility that he may be called to play at Dhaka. He then assured me that he would not miss the match at Siliguri."

It is impossible for anyone to play a match at Siliguri and reach Dhaka the very next day. Ganguly's decision to play at Siliguri means that he would not be available for Dhaka, unless the Bangladesh Government arranges for a special flight to take him there. People close to Ganguly, however feel that he should not play by default. So the doubt remains that even if the selection committee for the match chooses him now, he may very well opt out of the match.