Kapil hails Ganguly, sees 'Jimmy' in him

Source: Thats Cricket     Date: December 19, 2006  

New Delhi: One of those former players who had advised Sourav Ganguly to quit the game after his unceremonious ouster from Team India, World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev today hailed the Bengal southpaw's glorious return and found shadows of a never-say-die Jimmy (Mohinder) Amarnath in him.

Talking to reporters, Kapil said he didn't like the way Ganguly, country's most successful cricket captain, was shown the door and hence had advised him to retire from international cricket to escape the humiliation.

But Ganguly showed tremendous resolve and clawed his way back to international cricket, much like Mohinder Amarnath, Kapil felt.

''Let there be no doubt that Sourav Ganguly is a great player and he has led the team to some glorious periods of Indian cricket. But I didn't like the way he was ousted from the side and felt it would be better for him to retire than go through all these.

''But he showed rare passion, reminding me of Mohinder Amarnath.

See how he helped India regroup in South Africa and Ganguly himself emerged the winner,'' Kapil said.

Kapil felt Ganguly has returned a stronger player and the first Test at Wanderers gave enough proof of the fact.

''You must have noticed that he was hit by a rising delivery and Sourav didn't even squeak and that speaks volume of his determination,'' he explained.

The legendary all-rounder also felt that an out-of-form Irfan Pathan could take a cue from Ganguly and cement his place in side, showing the same determination.

''He can learn it from Ganguly. Ganguly spent 10 months in the wilderness and when the entire world was suggesting him to call it quits, a determined Ganguly didn't give up and succeeded in his comeback bid,'' Kapil elaborated.

Asked if he felt that Ganguly, along with VVS Laxman, should also be inducted in the one day team, Kapil evaded a direct answer and said, ''This is entirely up to the selectors to decide whether they would like to have them in the ODI squad.

All I can say is that the selectors should put national interest ahead of anything else.'' On whether chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar had done the right thing by putting his foot down on too much of experiment and pencilling in some experienced players, Kapil again shied away from a direct answer.

''Dilip is one of the finest players I have played with and he has played more than 100 Test. He knows what to do and wants the side to win. But I feel (Vengsarkar's predecessor) Kiran More also wanted India to do well and its only because India did well in the first Test (against South Africa) that people are praising him,'' he added.