Sourav

Calcutta: Till Friday morning, handling former captains in the dressing room was seen as Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s biggest off-field challenge.

After Board secretary Niranjan Shah’s comment on Sourav Ganguly’s non-inclusion for the Hyderabad ODI against Australia, negotiating beamers from officials could actually be the Team India captain’s No.1 headache.

“Sourav was dropped for the match,” Shah told the media on the sidelines of the third ODI. It made bigger news than Murali Kartik’s comeback, after ages, for the next two matches.

Indeed, with the youngsters versus oldies (at 35, Sourav’s the oldest in the squad) debate being fanned in certain quarters, the remark caused more than a tremor.

By the evening, though, Dhoni and chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar had a very different story to tell.

It’s best, therefore, that officials refrain from speaking on matters which don’t fall under their purview. It’s for the captain/coach/chief selector to talk about the composition of the XI in a Test or ODI or a Twenty20 face-off.

“Sourav has a hamstring problem… He was eager to play, but we decided not to take any risk keeping in mind the rest of the matches… His participation could have aggravated the problem… We didn’t wish to risk missing a batsman of his calibre any more,” was Dhoni’s explanation.

He didn’t react to a Shah-specific question.

Hardly surprising as Dhoni’s settling into the job and antagonising the Board secretary may not be as wise a move as utilising the slower bowlers in the World Twenty20 bowl out against Pakistan.

Contacted by The Telegraph from Calcutta, Vengsarkar said much the same thing as Dhoni.

“Sourav did make himself available, but we decided not to take a chance… He didn’t play today, but is definitely going to be in the XI for the next ODI (Chandigarh, on Monday).”

Asked if the former captain would open there, Vengsarkar answered: “Yes, but I can’t say with whom. It’s too early.”

The chief selector and not Dhoni had a one-on-one with Sourav before the XI was finalised.

Sourav strained his right hamstring during the first match, in Bangalore, and didn’t play in Kochi.

Kept away from ODIs for 16 months during the Greg Chappell era, Sourav has had a fantastic run since his return in January — 1,024 runs at an average of 51.20.

As important, this period has seen the revival of Sourav’s partnership with Sachin Tendulkar — theirs is the most successful opening combination (20 century stands) in limited overs cricket.

That the pair launched the innings in five of the last six (non-Twenty20) matches won by Team India can’t be treated as insignificant.

Surely, there’s a lesson to be drawn.