A national debate

Ganguly issue to be discussed in Parliament

Cricinfo staff

December 17, 2005

Sourav Ganguly: what fate awaits? © Getty Images

The axing of Sourav Ganguly has triggered off a national debate that will take on political dimensions when it is discussed in Parliament next week. Somnath Chatterjee, the speaker of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, announced this while adding that "a great injustice has been done to Ganguly because of politics in the game".

Ganguly had already received backing from political quarters, with Pranab Mukherjee, the defence minister, and Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, chief minister of West Bengal, among the many big guns who attributed Ganguly's exclusion to political manoeuvers.

While announcing the plan to discuss the issue, Chatterjee also added that such incidents will affect the morale of the players. It is also unclear under what rule the discussion will take place, with the Parliment usually not questioning the affairs of private bodies like the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), unless they are considered matters of public importance.

Sharad Pawar, the president of the BCCI, made it clear that he would not ask the selectors to revise their decision but added that he would meet them and dicuss the logic behind the move. On the issue being discussed in Parliament, he said, "It's quite unfortunate when people who always say there should be no politics in the game themselves indulge in these tactics."

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Hard but fair

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Players/Umpires

Sourav Ganguly

Sharad Pawar

Teams

India