For his sins, the Prince has to go

There was a person called Saurav Ganguly. Used to play brilliant cover drives, bowl decent medium pace. He was made captain of the Indian cricket team. He built Team India, a combination of the exhuberance in youth and the experience in old. If India reached the Word Cup finals, it was because of him -- because of the team that he constructed.

There is a person called Saurav Ganguly. Plays stupid shots, bowls like a schoolboy and fields like an amateur. Quarrels with the coach. Tells people things that were never said. Cries like a baby in a press conference.

If Ganguly was the same person he was, then there is no need for all the controversy that surrounds him. But then, how could he be the same person? Time changed him. The ego that I-am-in-charge changed him. The respect that the players had for him changed him. And, more importantly, the attitude that he was THE man in Indian cricket changed him a lot. In the passage of time, we all change. We have to. What we have to ponder is whether we have changed for the good or the bad. In Ganguly's case, he has changed for the bad.

The six wise men have sat and come to the conclusion that Greg Chappel as a liar. This only aggravates the situation for Saurav -- it gets across to him that he was right. For a man struggling to make runs and run that extra yard to save the ball, in a sense it means "hope". In another sense, it means "self destruction".

Ganguly has to change his attitude. A few Ranji matches will do him a world of good, and if he performs well there the batsman in him will always find a place in the Indian team.

We love you Ganguly. But, we love all the other players too; we love the Indian cricket team too. So for the 'best interest' of the team, you got to go.