'It won't be easy for Sourav to fight back' - Steve Waugh

Steve Waugh, the former Australian captain, feels that the Indian selectors could have been more forthright while dealing with the axing of Sourav Ganguly, hinting that the issue should have stayed behind closed doors.

Kiran More, the chairman of selectors, had recently told Cricinfo that Ganguly will not be recalled as long as the present selection committee was in office, and Waugh had a bit of advice for Ganguly.

"It's not for me to say whether he ought to still be playing for India, but it can't be encouraging when the chief selector [Kiran More] says the present committee won't pick him," Waugh told The Telegraph, a Kolkata-based daily. "I understand Sourav wants to fight back, but it's not going to be easy. Today, therefore, he should look in the mirror and make a call. Sourav has a lot of very fond memories to fall back on. With age, it's never easy."

Waugh, currently in Mumbai on a business trip, felt the selectors missed the cue by not dealing with the issue in a more diplomatic manner. "Ideally, the selectors ought to have spoken to him behind closed doors," he added. "Some of your younger players have been doing well and the focus, from what I gather, is on the 2007 World Cup. Perhaps, Sourav ought to have himself understood once he got dropped from the Test squad."

Waugh, who had been involved in some titanic battles against Ganguly-led sides, had experienced something similar. He was dropped from the one-day squad after Australia's poor showing in the 2001-02 VB Series and it was mainly because of a fairy-tale century against England, at Sydney in 2003, that he could extend his Test career for another 12 months.