Still, there is no getting around the fact that Ganguly remains one-day cricket’s fourth highest run-getter. In the 30 matches since he made his dramatic comeback last year — after 16 months in the wilderness — Ganguly has scored 1,120 runs at an average of 43.07.

Statistically, it means he is as good as ever, considering he managed 837 runs in 30 matches prior to his comeback, 1,009 runs in 30 matches prior to the last 60 matches and 779 runs in 30 matches before the last 90.

Ganguly has also managed to maintain his fascinating opening record with Tendulkar.

However, says a selector, none of these statistics was on the table when the selection committee met today. The decision to drop Ganguly, he says, “was solely with the idea to make way for more youngsters”. At 35, selectors believe, Ganguly is past his sell-by date in a team where the average age is 25-28. Instead, the likes of Raina, Ishant Sharma and Piyush Chawla (who replace the injured Zaheer Khan and Murali Kartik respectively) have been included. Selectors also emphasised how the young Indian team (Read the T20 performers) has managed to catch up with the rest in the shorter format. They concluded that what was needed was fresh blood to inject excitement and agility into the team.

“It makes a lot of difference. Good fielding can help save 15-20 runs and it is as important as scoring that many. All teams have good batsmen and bowlers, the emphasis is on fielding,” the selector said. He added that players of a similar age group were also expected to bond, understand each other better.

... contd.