Rahul Dravid deflects an offbreak to the leg side and chances a single asthe fielder at square leg, Mohammad Sami, darts in. In his haste to pickup the ball and throw Sami overruns the ball, and Dravid turns and chargesaround for a second run. Sami gets an earful from some of his team-mates,and Inzamam-ul-Haq has his hands on his hips as if to say, “Whichcricketer at this level does that?”Some overs later Yuvraj Singh flicks the ball to the left of Inzamam atmidwicket and takes off. Inzamam, finding the ball on the side off histhrowing arm and sensing the chance of a spectacular pick-up-and-throw,swoops down on the ball – upon it, and then past it. As he turns casuallyto clean up, he finds to his horror that Yuvraj is taking a second run,and is powerless to prevent it. Again all hands go on hips, while Inzamamtries to look like he is urgently contemplating an important bowlingchange.All fall downEvery man on the field except Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has just completed amaiden hundred and is walking as tall as he has ever done, falls flat onthe ground to avoid what seems be a swarm of bees. Billy Bowden,theatrical as ever, waggles his legs in the air as he smells the grass,although one will have to dredge out one’s copy of the laws of the game tocheck is this is not some little-used signal for ‘play held up due toemergency’. When the interruption is over some of the Pakistani fieldersseem rather loath to get up again.The ball in the skyFor most of the day the cricket ball is seen against the brown of the pitch or the green of the outfield, but when it is struck mightily by the batsman it can be glimpsed against the blue of the sky, and the soaring arc that it describes, accompanied by the ringing sound of the stroke, provides great satisfaction to both eye and ear. Virender Sehwag supplies just this pleasure when he launches a delivery high over the extra-cover boundary in the third over.A cloud in the skyA cloud hangs over the game at Visakhapatnam – not a metaphorical one, a real one. The ACA-VDCA ground at Visakhapatnam is surrounded by hills, and while no one notices clouds when they make their way lazily across the sky, their shapes making patterns of light and shadow over the hills are too distinct to miss. It is as if some gigantic presence is hovering over the ground, stopping by to take a look and then moving on.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Adam Gilchrist ruined New Zealand for the second time in two Tests with a brilliant, brutal 162 and Australia’s bowlers were almost as cruel as they bullied a wilting top order. The start was delayed by rain, adding to the washed out opening day, but the scoring pace of Gilchrist and Damien Martyn in a record 256-run partnership gave them oodles of time to wrap up the series.Wet weather or a Laxmanesque double-century are really the only things that can save New Zealand from slipping to a 2-0 deficit after they hopped to 122 for 4 at stumps on day three. Gilchrist was again to blame. At Christchurch he swung the game away from the Kiwis with Simon Katich, and today he grabbed it powerfully alongside Martyn’s beautiful strokeplay, allowing Ricky Ponting to declare at a mountainous 570 for 8.The total was swiftly set up in the hour before lunch with a mind-blowing display of power hitting as Gilchrist blasted 51 from 35 deliveries and New Zealand haemorrhaged 90 runs. After the break he slowed a touch as the field spread, adding 66 from 62, but the upshot was his 15th Test century at a strike-rate of 111 with five sixes and 22 fours. The barely believable has become weekly.Gilchrist’s punishment overshadowed an exhibition from Martyn, who stayed true to his graceful nature and celebrated a career-high 165. Together they stripped their opponents in a record sixth-wicket partnership against New Zealand in 182 minutes. It was mean, explosive and sustained. Martyn went to Iain O’Brien at 503 and Gilchrist bunted back to James Franklin at 557, but Ponting extended the torture until Shane Warne slapped his fifty. He is not a captain fond of donations.Stephen Fleming’s dire series continued when he offered no shot to Glenn McGrath and was lbw in the opening over. An already exhausted side, needing 420 to avoid the follow-on in a four-day match, enjoyed the aggressive fields but not the attack. Short balls were ordered as Hamish Marshall was pushed to the back foot, and Craig Cumming’s pull shot again led to his removal. Michael Clarke then popped up to upend Nathan Astle as stumps neared.A day that ended in dark conditions began in similar light. The umpires saw the rain and fog and expected no play until after lunch so Gilchrist went swimming with his son. When the clouds cleared quickly an 11.30am resumption was decided and calls to mobiles rustled up the players. Gilchrist made it to the ground in time to rush on his gear and walk out to the middle for the 60-minute session.Adjusting quickly from the paddling, Gilchrist lined up Chris Martin once he raised his half-century. A clipped four through point was followed by a hooked six and a back-foot boundary through cover: three balls, 14 runs. Martin seemed in more trouble when he dropped short and Gilchrist aimed a cut. There was relief when Hamish Marshall intercepted it and further frustration when it bumped out as he hit theground.

Franklin was next for punishment – three fours in one over – as Gilchrist closed on his century before lunch. He was slightly delayed and waited until the first over after the break with a late cut off Daniel Vettori. He moved from 50 to 100 in 29 balls; it was bludgeoning and breathtaking. Next ball he pierced the wicketkeeper and first slip with an edge, straining New Zealand necks.Vettori, who bowled 47 overs for two wickets, masters most Australia batsmen, but not their wicketkeeper. Gilchrist’s third six of the innings was belted high, long and straight. The next, two balls later, bashed into a blue fence over mid-on shortly before lunch. The fifth, again off Vettori, took him to 143. When Gilchrist fell to Franklin his summer of runs in four Tests against New Zealand included 126 at Brisbane, 50 at Adelaide, 121 at Christchurch and 162 today. Imagine if Australia had second innings.While Gilchrist paraded his muscles, Martyn eased boundaries as he woke up in the same form that earned him 106 on day two. Calm in all conditions, he kept to himself and coolly increased his score despite the distraction of his partner. Martyn’s 150 came from 250 balls, with 23 fours, and his intensity soon dropped. Unfortunately his highest Test effort will be overlooked by everyone but the purists. Martyn sparkled while Gilchrist crashed and New Zealand cracked.How They Were Out
Australia
Martyn c McCullum b O’Brien 165 (503 for 6)
His best Test score ended with a push and a nick to a ball that moved away.Gilchrist c&b Franklin 162 (557 for 7)
Popped a return catch in a meek end to a mammoth innings.Gillespie b Franklin 162 (559 for 8)
Bowled slogging to leg.New Zealand
Fleming lbw McGrath 0 (9 for 1)
Padded up to one coming back in the first over, Rudi Koertzen thought it would hit off.Marshall c Gillespie b McGrath 18 (55 for 2)
Attacked with short bowling, he hooked to fine leg and Gillespie ran out of the shadows to take a lunging, low catch.Cumming b Kasprowicz 37 (78 for 3)
Aimed a pull towards midwicket that didn’t bounce as much as he expected and dragged an under-edge on to the stumps.Astle c Warne b Clarke 9 (108 for 4)
Clarke came on in the gloom to replace Gillespie and Astle drove hard to Warne, who snapped the sharp offering at first slip.

Ricky Ponting believes Australia’s on-field behaviour is improving despite the sledging allegations against Shane Warne, but he wants the tone to rise against England. Ponting said yesterday he expected to talk to Warne, who is currently playing for Hampshire, about the events leading to Chris Adams, the Sussex captain, complaining that he had lost respect for Warne.Ponting said Warne’s antics had not been a problem during his captaincy and all the players had made a point of cleaning up their acts. “If you look back at what the team has been able to do over the last couple of years, we have really been able to change the perception,” Ponting told the Herald Sun. “Certainly in the public’s eyes but, more importantly, everyone we speak to involved in the game has been really impressed with what we have been able to do with our on-field attitudes.”James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, was also considering calling Warne, who was exposed for sledging Ronnie Irani last season, after Adams said he was trying to “humiliate young players”. Warne said he was responding to Matt Prior’s “chesting” of Simon Katich during last weekend’s County Championship match at Hove. “I thought cricket was a non-contact sport,” he wrote in his Times column. “I was sticking up for my mate and letting Prior know what I thought about his behaviour.”Ponting said he wanted to find out what had happened from Warne and Katich. “Then we can make better judgements,” he said.

Barry Richards, the former South African batsman, has said that Twenty20 should become a global competition featuring teams from a number of cities.”If you had 16 or 20 sides you could float it around the world and you could sell it into America and Canada,” Richards told BBC Sport. “You could have a team from Toronto, a team from Miami, teams from Cape Town and London. You could have the best players, not representing a country but a town.”It would be the 200 or 300 best players in the world and it’s up to the franchise-holders to decide who are the best players. You always associate Test cricket with the best players but it’s not the case anymore. If you’ve got 15 in each side then we can see all the Australians that are not playing that are good enough to play Test cricket.”Richards comments are hardly likely to be warmly received by the authorities in some countries, but the rapid growth and remarkable popularity of the format where it has been tried means that his ideas are not as far-fetched as they might have been even a year ago.Richards has been at the forefront in recognising the need for the game to appeal to new markets and audiences if it is to prosper. At the Cowdrey Lecture in 2003, he urged the authorties to consider where cricket would be in 20 years, and said that it had to revise traditional thinking in favour of new concepts that stimulated the young.

A cricket board investigation has been launched into allegations of drunken misconduct by two Sri Lanka players – allegedly Avishka Gunawardene and Kaushal Lokuarachchi – during the ICC Champions Trophy last month. said that Sri Lanka Cricket had been prompted to take action after being “tipped off by well-informed sources” that the two players were involved in a late-night drinking binge mid-way through their rain-interrupted match against England.Mohan de Silva, the cricket board president, confirmed to Wisden Cricinfo that a disciplinary probe was already underway: “Investigations have been started. We have instructed the disciplinary committee to look into these allegations and they are making preliminary enquiries now before the players return from Pakistan,” he added.The allegations had surfaced soon after Sri Lanka’s early exit from the Champions Trophy but were not taken seriously at the outset after being flatly denied by Ajit Jayasekera, the team manager at the time, and coach John Dyson.De Silva refused to confirm the identity of the two players and insisted that the decision to drop both Gunawardene and Lokuarachchi for Sri Lanka’s second match in the Paktel Cup had not been triggered by the inquiry.Lokuarachchi was last year banned for four months from all forms of cricket after his involvement in a tragic late-night driving accident. Legal proceedings are still continuing in the case.

Surrey have finally lost patience with Alex Tudor, and despite his 10-year history with the club, have released him with one year left on his contract. Tudor played in only one County Championship game for Surrey this season, as a back problem limited him to 2nd XI and club cricket for Spencer, where he played as a specialist batsman.”Alex has been struggling with his fitness for a while now,” said Paul Sheldon, the club’s chief executive, “and unfortunately he has only been able to complete one Championship game this season. Alex has been a wonderful servant to the club over the past ten seasons and we all wish him the very best in the future.”Tudor, now 26, made his England debut against Australia at the age of just 20 in Perth in 1998/99 series where he picked up the wickets of both Waugh twins. But even then, injuries had already started to plague him, and he had to withdraw from the fourth Test of the series with a hip problem.He retained his place for the first Test of the next home series, against New Zealand at Edgbaston, and although his bowling was not of the standard he’d have liked, it was his contribution with the bat that created headlines. He hit an unbeaten 99 as England beat New Zealand by seven wickets. It was the highest-ever score by an English nightwatchman, and helped win him the Cricket Writers’ Club Young Cricketer of the Year award.”Following a phone call from the chairman of cricket I was told I was being released,” said Tudor. “Surrey has been my home for the past ten years and I am sad to be leaving. It has always given me enormous pleasure and pride to be a Surrey player and I have always given 100% both on and off the field for the club.”I have recently seen a specialist who has diagnosed my injury and we are both confident that I can regain my fitness in the next six months and continue my cricket career in 2005.”His Surrey release may well be a chance for Tudor to make a new start – free from injury, he will be hoping – although with his injury record it must be doubtful whether any club will risk offering him a long-term contract.

ScorecardIt was never designed to be a contest, and so it proved, as Pakistan’s new-improved unit overwhelmed the rookies of Zimbabwe by 144 runs in an echoingly underpopulated Multan stadium. But for the first 40 overs of the match, Pakistan’s prospects were not quite as cushy as they seemed, and it required a blizzard of sixes towards the end of their innings for the prospect of an upset to be completely banished.After a woeful start to their innings and a cautious rebuilding process, Pakistan had slipped to 146 for 6 when Shahid Afridi came out to join a cautious Adbul Razzaq, whose 95-run partnership with Inzamam-ul-Haq had rescued the team from a sketchy 38 for 4. Without so much as a by-your-leave, Afridi set about the bowling with typical fury, smacking four sixes and five fours in a 26-ball 58, and Razzaq took up the cudgels as well, racing to his second one-day century – 107 not out from 114 balls – of which the second fifty came from just 21 balls.At 292 for 7, that was effectively that, although Vusi Sibanda did his best to hold up Pakistan’s victory surge with a spirited half-century, as Zimbabwe trickled to 148 all out in 38.3 overs. He received little meaningful support, however, apart from an adhesive 29 from Dion Ebrahim that, if anything, erred a little too far on the side of caution given the massive asking-rate. Nevertheless, it was a useful learning experience for the Zimbabwe team, especially their bowlers, who could not have been expected to prosper on a typically batsman-friendly subcontinental wicket.But instead, they came storming out of the blocks. The last time Tinashe Panyangara had been called upon to bowl the first over of a one-day international – against England at Edgbaston in the Champions Trophy – he had sent down seven wides in a fretful performance. Today, however, he was right on the money immediately, as Yasir Hameed edged his first ball straight into Tatenda Taibu’s gloves behind the stumps (0 for 1).Matters got worse before they improved for Pakistan. Douglas Hondo struck with his fourth delivery, as Shoaib Malik attempted to whip across the line and was adjudged lbw by an inducker for 1, and even Yousuf Youhana couldn’t turn the tide. Youhana had amassed 405 runs in five matches (average: 405) on Pakistan’s previous trip to Zimbabwe, but this time he feathered a good-length ball through to Taibu off Hondo, as Pakistan slumped to 6 for 3.Panyangara then struck for a second time to remove the debutant opener, Bazid Khan – son of Majid – for 12 (38 for 4), and all eyes were on the captain, Multan’s favourite son, Inzamam. He had attracted immense criticism for his decision to bat first in the Champions Trophy, but this time he was utterly blameless for his team-mates’ shortcomings, even though he might have been a part of the collapse, had Taibu held onto a thin leg-side tickle when Inzamam had made 7.But surely and maturely, Inzamam set about rebuilding the innings, in partnership with the cool and collected Razzaq, who picked the gaps and stole the singles off Zimbabwe’s second-string pairing of Elton Chigumbura and Prosper Utseya. Razzaq had one moment of good fortune, when a checked drive burst through Stuart Matsikenyeri’s fingers and clattered him on the nose, but in the very next over, Utseya removed Inzamam for 73, courtesy of an unfortunate lbw decision.When Moin Khan was stumped off Brendan Taylor’s speculative spinners for 7, Pakistan looked set for a second wobble, but Afridi had other ideas. He and Razzaq launched into their brutal onslaught, and before long, Zimbabwe’s spirited start to the match was just a distant memory.Sibanda did his best to forge a reply, batting with great common-sense for his 57 from 69 balls, which included a six over long-on to bring up his fifty. But the rest of Zimbabwe’s top-order found survival rather harder to cling to. Matsikenyeri was pinned lbw by Naved-ul-Hasan for 0, before Brendan Taylor had his off stump plucked out of the ground by a fizzer from Shoaib Akhtar, that would have cleaned up many more experienced players (8 for 2).It was left to the spinners Afridi and Malik to wrap up the match. Afridi’s spell was particularly buoyant – he bowled Taibu for 3 with his very first delivery, and caused havoc among the tailenders as he whistled topspinners and legbreaks past cagey defensive shots. He even sent down a venomous 76mph bouncer, before wrapping up the innings by bowling Hondo for 1.

ScorecardA defiant half-century from Keith Dabengwa could not saveMatabeleland as Mashonaland cruised to a 258-run victory onthe fourth and final day of the Logan Cup match at Bulawayo Athletic Club.Dabengwa, who came in at No. 9, hit two huge sixes andnine fours on his way to 65 off 58 balls which gave the small crowd something to cheer about in this one-sided encounter. He was the last man out as Matabeleland, who were bowled out for 220 in the first innings, were skittled for 206 in their second attempt.Matabeleland, chasing 465, resumed from their overnight total of 34 for 2, with Sean Williams and Mark Vermeulen at the crease. But Vermeulen soon perished when he fell to Waddington Mwayenga as he edged through to Tatenda Taibu. Matabeleland then lost their fourth wicket as Douglas Hondo bowled Williams for 19 (65 for 4). Hondo picked up a second as he trapped Gregory Strydom for 18.Next ball, Mbekezeli Mabuza attempted to pull Hondo: but hemiscued, and skied a simple catch for Taibu which left Matabeleland wobbling on 70 for 6. Mluleki Nkala, the Matabeleland captain, and Gavin Ewing stabilised their innings with a seventh-wicket stand of 45, but this ended when Ewing was dismissed by Chamunorwa Chibhabha, caught at mid-off by Chigumbura for 27.Nkala and Dabengwa played some beautiful strokes, and put on 52 before Nkala was trapped by legspinner Graeme Cremer. Dabengwa, whose fifty came up from 41 balls, put on 25 for the last wicket with Simba Kusano. But then Dabengwa gave Cremer his third wicket when he was caught at silly mid-on by Tafadzwa Mufambisi just after lunch, and Mashonaland wrapped up a winning start to the campaign.

Ramnaresh Sarwan, the former vice-captain of West Indies, has refused to accept vice-captaincy of the Guyana squad for the ongoing Carib Beer regional competition, with a view of giving younger players a chance to lead the side and gain valuable experience.Speaking to before the start of the round 6 four-day match against Trinidad and Tobago, Sarwan said, “I won’t be around for long due to international commitments. It won’t be right on my part to take up the position and leave half-way. It would be a good opportunity for a younger player to take up the vice-captaincy and [he] can be groomed in the team.”In place of Sarwan, the Guyana board appointed the 23-year-old Damodar Daesrath as the vice-captain and Shivnarine Chanderpaul as the captain. Daesrath had led the side in the absence of Chanderpaul with mixed results: one win, one loss, two draws and a no-result in the away matches.Sarwan was also replaced by Chanderpaul as the vice-captain of the West Indies side in the recently-concluded VB Series. Sarwan, who was identified as the future captain, was appointed as Brian Lara’s deputy in 2003, during Lara’s second stint as captain. Sarwan enjoyed his best year in Test cricket in 2004, when he crossed 1000 runs with an average above 50. Though the selectors did not offer any explanations for replacing Sarwan, it is reliably known that they wanted him to concentrate on his batting.

The news that Sourav Ganguly had said that he was asked to resign the Indian captaincy on the eve of the Bulawayo Test, and Cricinfo’s subsequent editorial on the issue, attracted record feedback. Here is a selection of your emails. If you would like to have your say then please email us.Ganguly`s outbursts show that he himself understands that his place is in danger and desperately want to keep his place in the team. If he is not the captain then I don’t think he will fit into team as only a player as better players are waiting to take his place. Move over Ganguly, you have been a good batsmen but I don’t think you qualify to be in the team any more. Venkat IndiaSourav Ganguly has had phenomenal contribution to Indian cricket as a batsman or a captain. It is undoubtedly true and even wholeheartedly admitted by the captain himself that he is undergoing a lean patch. However, Chappell’s suggestion on the eve of the first Test suggests impudence and immaturity. Also, given Sachin Tendulkar is not around, Ganguly is one of the fulcrums of this team and none of the batsmen in the reserve bench have displayed such outstanding capabilities so as to be readily looked upon as the replacement for Ganguly. Anindya Chaudhuri IndiaBoth Sourav Ganguly and Greg Chappell are at fault, the coach for his untimely criticism of the captain & the captain for washing dirty linen in public. It’s all well to talk about transparency in Indian Cricket but surely this is not the kind of transparency we expect from mature individuals. In a way it’s unfair to criticise a captain who has contributed a lot towards Indian cricket but Ganguly should also realise that he has no right to take everything and everyone for granted. Here is a classic case of a man thinking he is larger than the team. His ego is more important than the success and unity of the team. He should ask him to bow down gracefully before it is too late. Sunil Thadani Hong KongGanguly should prove himself as a good player before being a goodcaptain. When you are not a good player by yourself, as a captain how can you motivate other players to give good performances. It is high time for selectors to make some tough decisions on players like CricketAustralia does. Ganguly should realize that he is not eligible to captain India anymore. Pavan Kunta AustraliaWho is Greg Chappell to ask Sourav to step down? Sourav was appointed by selectors. Chappell is destroying the team with his mindless experiments. After all this team which made Aussies look ordinary in their own home turf was largely possible due to Sourav and John Wright. D Manoj IndiaGanguly is undoubtedly one of the best captains in the cricket history. I think its totally unfair to degrade his innings; after all, he has been under immense pressure from the media and board. Even though the innings was slow, I think it should be praised and treated like a century. When an innings of this pace is played by Rahul dravid, he gets appreciated for his hard work. Let’s not forget how Ganguly has helped to choose the best players for the Indian cricket team. If Ganguly is speaking the truth about being asked to step down, then he has got every right to speak about it.Avishek Barua New ZealandWe shouldn’t forget the basic laws of cricket. A coach of cricket team is just for technical, tactical and strategical inputs and improvements. The captain is entirely responsible on the field and team selection/combination, team unity etc. Greg’s elder brother Ian Chappell does not even believe in existence of a coach, to him captain is all in all. No one can blame Ganguly of being partisan or biased, he goes by his instinct. Captain is chosen by the selection panel. Only selectors and the board can ask him to resign. Sujit BruneiI think Ganguly has lost his form and his dignity. He scored a century against the worst bowling attack, but he was clueless against the pace of Shane Bond and co. Ganguly has done lot of good things to Indian cricket, but the time has come now to think about the future. If a player is not performing, the coach has every right to suggest he take a break and let the players who are in form to be part of team. By going public Ganguly has done a great disservice to Indian cricket. All his contributions have come to nothing by his statement. I hope he realises the fact no one can captain of India for ever, and the sooner he realises it, the better it will be for Indian cricket. Yogesh IndiaIndia’s population totalled 1.027 billion as of March 1, making it the second country in the world after China to cross the one billion mark. Why can’t it produce 11 consistent talented players who have the passion and desire for the game. The desire to win should show out in the field in every aspect of the game, specially fielding. It has not been exemplified in this year’s performance by this Indian team. A good leader should take a break and correct his flaws rather than to hold on to his place. Leading a team of this importance is a privilege, not a silver spoon that one is born with; let somebody else take over this responsibility. Ganguly should prove himself again before coming back in the squad. Christopher CanadaWhat Ganguly has done is a sign of a poor leader. India’s ship is sure to sink if they don’t solve the captaincy issue soon. There is no doubt that Dravid should be the captain. Ganguly has served the country well, but it is time to move on. It was a step backward when he was named the captain of the side. Ganguly can not hold the position in the team as a batsman or fielder. By naming him in the side India is playing with 10 men, this is a huge disadvantage when you are playing against top teams like Pakistan, Australia and England. You can not give them any advantage. I hope that the Indian selectors would do the right thing after the tour, if not they should be sacked. As an Indian supporter this is so frustrating. Kuldip Singh AustraliaThe last 48 hours has shown how low things have reached. First came the Mohammad Kaif non-selection and now the startling revelation. There could be a lot of pressure from all quarters. But over the years we have come to expect Ganguly to handle things in a strong and no-nonsense manner rather than cutting a sorry figure in public. He should not have gone public with his grievances. Raghesh Vijaykumar QatarSourav, please don’t drag the team down with you. And please please step down as a captain ASAP and let Dravid to do the rest. Dravid is the man from now on as we saw him in Sri lanka doing the job perfectly. Dank Sri LankaAmid all this confusion, one seems to be missing the one major reason behind India’s sudden decline. For all our Gangulys and Dravids, Kumbles and Sehwags, the one name that made India of two years back was a gentleman by the name of Sachin Tendulkar. The Indian team became a worldbeater only because for the first time in its history, it had a cricketer who was universally recognised as a world beater. The kind of aura and fear that Team India could create in opponents (including the Aussies) went missing the day Tendulkar started having troubles with his tennis elbow. Thats when the decline started and I am sure when the lil’ man gets back, Team India will be back. Shubhankar Dasgupta IndiaGanguly has done good job in backing young players and providing the level of aggression that was much needed. But good leaders are more than these: they lead by performance, they try to channelise the whole system to work in their absence and importanly they know when they need to move ahead to make place for others. It is unfortunate to see team india in such state of turmoil and i really pity the coach. As far as i know he is a real professional and believes in performance and I do believe that he has the ability to successfully take India through to the 2007 World Cup. It all looks bleak at the moment and i don’t see any silver lining in the clouds. Rajiv United KingdomJust when England’s glorious win over Australia showed to the cricket world what a close-knit unit who enjoy each other’s success can achieve, Ganguly’s statement comes as a rude awakening to the dire straits that Team India is in. Ramesh IndiaYou cannot keep on inflicting a person like Ganguly with horrendous questions. Just because he is the captain of indian team he doesn’t have to suppress his instincts. No one raised him to this level, he himself worked all the way to captain. The person who decides his team on a given day definitely knows when he should step down. His remarks are absolutely fine. He’s worth giving more time to come out of slump. Subramanian K IndiaI believe that Ganguly was completely wrong in making those comments. All this will only create a rift within the team. The Indian cricket team is slowly hurtling towards a point of no return. These guys are hopeless and think that a win or two against Zimbabwe is a major achievement. The writer Anand Vasu has summed it all up brilliantly in his column. Ganguly has to go both as captain and player or else he will drag the rest of the team down with him. Rajesh Shastri United KingdomTeam India has always been a myth and will continue to be so.Indian cricket is a collection of factional administrators, players and media hangers-on, who chose to align instinctively on protecting their interests. Their wins are always a result of select individuals performing superlatively on a given day, and never a collective teamwork. It is not surprising that the media savvy Prince of Calcutta chose to talk of his being asked to step down after scratching a 101 against a club side, pretending to be a Test-playing nation. Whether your advice of not selling himself cheap would be taken by Ganguly depends on what he thinks he needs to do to continue as a captain. The key issue here seems to be survival – winning and teamwork have become incidental. God save Indian cricket. Muthukumar V IndiaSourav Ganguly going public about him being asked to step down as captain is something that is probably to be expected of him. If there are differences between he and the new coach, Greg Chappell, they probably stem from Ganguly’s ineffectiveness as captain against quality opposition. Chappell is the best thing that could happen for the India team, and if he is allowed to do his job, uncomprisingly, he will take this team to heights they have never experienced before, with or without the spoilt Ganguly. Richard Saviel AustraliaClick here to send us your feedback on the issue.