The comeback to the Team India crease is big deal for desi blogs. Friends and foes alike have held forth on Sourav Ganguly’s ticket to South Africa. And the debate has only just begun.

Before a long jump, you’ve got to take a few steps back, points out a blogger at http://talkcricket.dopanne.com. “Sourav Ganguly is lazy and he has an ego... But ego is a rare thing. You need it to win the World Cup. Add this egoist to Dravid, Tendulkar, Sehwag, Laxman, Dhoni and Jaffer and we suddenly have a batting line-up that is not easy to blow over,” he writes. “We cannot teach our talented but inexperienced young batsmen to play quality fast bowling overnight. What we can do is call back a guy who has some memory of scoring on hostile pitches and seems to have the hunger to do so again.”

Some see in Ganguly’s return, the end of road for Greg Chappell. Rana (http://memoryanddesire.blogspot.com) says: “A year ago, I wrote Chappell should be fired after he gave the finger to cricket fans in Calcutta. He should have never been appointed as coach. He has only destroyed the team’s morale. Surely, the abominable Aussie’s contract will be terminated.”

Abhishek Deshpande (http://desicritics.org) is firmly behind the comeback man: “Sourav has a huge challenge on his hands, but even if he fails, people will remember him as someone who fought for a year to get back into the team and made it. He will be giving (it) his all. On the cards is an ODI berth and return to captaincy.”

Blogmaster (http://iccchampionstrophy2006.blogspot.com) sees cold logic in the comeback: “What made the selectors look at Sourav? Very simple, there is nobody else to look at. After giving a lot of opportunities to... Suresh Raina, Dinesh Mongia and Mohammad Kaif, the selectors thought the only sensible thing to do at this point is bring back old warriors like Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman.”

He, however, sees the irony in the selection of a batsman whose decline “has been attributed primarily to his vulnerability against the short ball” to “strengthen a batting line-up that has been systematically dismantled by the surgical, relentless use of bounce”.

Krish (http://clearway. blogspot.com) has woven a conspiracy theory, tongue firmly in cheek: “Totally unreliable sources have confirmed that Sourav had a series of telephonic conversations with master batsman (and super model) Sachin Tendulkar. From the records, it is clear that the two have conspired to throw captain Rahul Dravid and coach Chappell out of the team. Sachin has made the necessary arrangements so that the team performs really badly (a not-so-difficult proposition anyway) to put Chappell and Rahul in a spot.”

The cheers for Dada among Bong bloggers has been matched by the jeers for Didi. Yes, Team Mamata’s mayhem in the Bengal Assembly has placed her bang in the line of blog fire.

Mrinalini Sen (http://mrinalini-sen.blogspot.com) writes: “Mamata is such an embarrassment... I find it difficult to believe that she can get away with violence, traffic blockade, a 12-hour strike and near decimation of the Assembly with the cameras rolling. She might’ve had a chance with Singur, Calcutta being a red city and all... Just a little restraint would’ve earned her more ears. After Thursday, I not only have no tolerance for such vandalism, I have lost all respect for the Opposition.”

Pradeep Nair (http://bpradeepnair.blogspot.com) adds: “With people like Mamata around, does democracy have any real meaning in India?”

An anonymous blogger (http://vaichatt.blogspot.com) has concluded that the Trinamul chief and her legislators have not seen Lage Raho Munnabhai, else they “would not have broken the antiques” in the Assembly. He writes: “The chief minister, in contrast, has seen the film and learnt a lesson. Thanks to Gandhigiri, he has not arrested the Trinamul MLAs. Instead, he has invited the common man to visit the Assembly and witness the damage done by Mamata’s disciples.”

The boos that Mamata has attracted is nothing compared to the bashing Britney Spears has received for her pub(l)ic show to the paparazzi last week. Her MySpace profile is spilling over with comments and criticism about her partying ways post application for divorce.

Her fans seem disgusted that she is seeing so much of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, and quite furious about her flash of flesh. Being caught without underpants is not the way to bowl ’em over, Britney.

Desperatelyfabulous.blogspot.com has put up a letter addressed to the popstar on her birthday on Saturday. “We were so happy when you kicked Kevin Federline to the curb(!). But then you squandered the goodwill by hanging out with the likes of Paris Hilton... Britney Spears flashing herself to the world! I know you’re 25, but where are your parents?” asks the writer.

One fan, with username Save Britney Spears, writes in the popstar’s MySpace profile: “Britney… We’re all really worried about you! You need to stop partying and be a mom. You devoted yourself to your children when you decided to have them. You can’t just go right back to being a party animal!”