Bravery or folly?

Sourav Ganguly has been given another chance to prove his worth...just where in the order remains to be seen © Getty Images

Not being privy to the rationale behind India's decision to go in to the first Test with only one specialist opener - we can now take the liberty to call Virender Sehwag that - we can only conjecture. Brave gamble or foolhardy risk? Or a decision imposed on the team management? Both Wasim Jaffer and Gautam Gambhir had acquitted themselves well in the warm-up game against Pakistan A, yet both found themselves in the quiet of the dressing room when India went out to field.

You could argue that Ganguly deserves a place in the side ahead of both Gambir and Jaffer on the basis of past performance and reputation. But the real issue is what his inclusion does to the balance of the batting line-up. Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman are a shoo-in for the middle-order, and on current form, Yuvraj Singh too would edge out his former captain. That leaves only an opening slot, against a bowling line-up comprising Shoaib Akhtar - nearly unstoppable against England - the ever-improving Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Mohammad Sami.

Whether Ganguly is up to the challenge is open to debate, and we'll only find out when India eventually manage to bowl Pakistan out. If he doesn't open, however, it will open up an entirely new can of worms that the Indian team could well do without. Of the rest, Dravid is probably best equipped to handle the task of taking on a fired-up Shoaib, but it would be nothing short of insanity to risk the team's best batsman against the new ball. Would Australia do the same with Ricky Ponting, who has laid waste bowling attacks from the No.3 position?

It would be just as unfair to ask Yuvraj or Laxman to front up simply to accommodate Ganguly in the middle order. Asking Irfan Pathan, who got such a working-over from Shoaib at Lahore on the last tour, would also be to venture into the realms of unacceptable risk.

It's not as though India haven't used stop-gap openers before. Parthiv Patel got the nod at Rawalpindi year, but that decision was made easy by Aakash Chopra's struggle for form. With both specialist openers having shown no signs of being in wretched touch in the tour game, such brinksmanship was clearly not needed here.

The constant will-he-won't-he innuendo would also have done nothing for team spirit ahead of such a huge series. The will of the captain and coach has to reign supreme, and if external forces have prevailed to deny them the team that they wanted, then that's appalling and regrettable.

Whatever the circumstances that led to his inclusion, Ganguly is now the master of his own destiny. If he shows the courage and application to take on and see off a formidable pace attack at the top of the order, no one will grudge him his moment of glory. But if he fails as abysmally as he did on Pakistan's visit to India, questions will need to be asked about the wisdom of putting an individual's interests above that of the team.