Ganguly blames Srikkanth's selection policy for Laxman's retirement

Kolkata Former India captain Sourav Ganguly said that VVS Laxman has sent out a “loud and clear” message to the selectors by deciding to quit international cricket with immediate effect. “Srikkanth has a big problem in communicating. A player like Laxman would not train so hard just to keep himself fit for two Tests. If they (selectors) conveyed their opinion to Laxman earlier, this situation would not have surfaced. Why they stretched till August? Probably, the selectors’ judgment has hurt him (Laxman) the most,” Ganguly said. Ganguly also feels that Srikkanth’s selection policy would be detrimental to Indian cricket’s progress. “They don’t select a team taking the future of Indian cricket into account. They merely do a balancing act by means of removing and adding somebody. Indian cricket will not progress this way.” Someone who doesn’t mince words, Ganguly was also surprised to find Laxman state at the press conference that the latter “found it difficult to reach Dhoni.” [caption id=“attachment_422817” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Laxman and Ganguly together. AFP[/caption] “A skipper should be available for his players 24 hours. I don’t know why Dhoni does this… But I think situation would have been different, if Laxman had got Dhoni’s support,” Ganguly said. “Making this sound like a farewell series (for Laxman) does not make any sense. It’s a fantastic decision… By this he has sent a loud and clear message to the selectors.” Ganguly feels that the decision was a tough one. “Probably, it was the toughest decision, tougher than me. I was playing (in a series) and then took the decision. But in his case, he does not have a future in IPL… He was training very hard for about four months at NCA and expecting to play this season when he had to take a call. Hats off to Laxman. He is 200 percent right in his decision.” The former captain was also not happy that Laxman became a scapegoat for India’s 0-8 overseas Test record as lot of other players have also done miserably. “Even (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni, (Gautam) Gambhir, Ishant (Sharma) failed in Australia. It’s a complete case of treating unequally. Age cannot be a factor,” he said pointing out India’s tour Down Under. “I was doing commentary in that series. It was green-top all the way and Ishant could take only five wickets from four Test matches. If Laxman is singled out, then why not others?” he questioned. “If this is the policy, then we will never be able to build a good side.” Ganguly also had a word of caution for Team India in the upcoming England and Australia series later in the year. “I’m not sure about the outcome of the NZ series as they are a comparatively weaker side. But it would not be easy at home against England and Australia.” PTI