Is the middle order a safer perch for Ganguly?

Saurav Ganguly came into the Test series against Australia shooting from the hip. Making allowances for the usual pre-series posturing, Ganguly still came across as someone who fervently believed in his own rhetoric. His confidence bolstered by some outstanding form with the bat, he appeared to be insular to the sundry distractions surrounding the position of captain. Far from being affected, Ganguly actually seemed to be revelling in the demands of a high profile and high pressure job. Coming into the series, he averaged an impressive 56 in 29 ODI's and 68.6 in three Tests as captain. Even John Wright observed that the positive impact on Ganguly's batting was evidence enough that he was at ease with the responsibility.

It's clear the intense media scrutiny dogging his every step through this series was a scale higher than what Ganguly was accustomed to. He did win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for India to back up his fire and brimstone oratory but his personal form has gone to pieces under the pressure of standing up to a demanding public and hostile press. Ganguly averaged just 17.66 in the Tests and two further failures in the first two ODIs have given his confidence a painful knock. His feet are not moving and McGrath and Co. have sorted him out with a relentlessly probing line outside off stump, even though all his heavily favoured strokes are on that side of the wicket.

The suggestion has been advanced that Ganguly be dropped down the order to protect him from the new ball. It is not an unfamiliar task. He began his career batting at No.6 against the West Indies in the Benson and Hedges triangular back in 1991/92. Vanishing into the wilderness for more than four years, Ganguly returned for a solitary game in the Texaco Trophy against England in May 1996. A period of unrest proceeded as he desperately tried to establish himself in the side, being shunted around all the way from No.3 to No.8 in the process. Then came the Titan Cup in October. Sujit Somasunder, a surprise selection, failed as opener in the first two games of the competition. In Ganguly's 10th ODI, he was slotted in to face up to the new ball in the company of Sachin Tendulkar against South Africa at Jaipur.

In their very first game together, Ganguly (54) and Tendulkar added 126 for the first wicket, although they set a tardy pace; in the end India chasing 250, ended up on 222/7. However with the recall of Navjot Sidhu, there was no place for Ganguly in the scheme of things for the rest of the competition. He returned for the Standard Bank triseries in South Africa in January 1997, where he was reunited with Tendulkar upfront. Ever since, Ganguly has been hard to budge from his new calling, except for seven games, including five in the 1999/2000 season just after the World Cup when Sadagopan Ramesh was given a brief stint.

The last of the seven occasions was against Zimbabwe in the Champions Trophy in Sharjah in October 2000 when Rahul Dravid was sent up the order, avowedly so that Ganguly could tuck into the spinners in the middle overs. That took the count of matches in which Ganguly batted down the order to 16, which considering his overall tally of 160 games, makes for just one tenth of his ODI career. In the middle order, his 447 runs at 31.93 with three fifties, including a highest of 85, do not compare favourably with his success as opener where he averages 46.03 over 139 games.

If he bats down the order, there is also the small matter of breaking up the combustible mixture of Tendulkar and Ganguly. In the semifinals of the ICC KnockOut against South Africa at Nairobi, they crossed the 4000-run mark in partnership; only the peerless Greenidge and Haynes have more. All that is now history. While there is little guarantee that Ganguly will succeed down the order, he surely can do no worse. Indeed Ganguly's record in the opening slot against Australia is conspicuously poor; in 15 games, he averages 21.33, with one hundred, one fifty, and the rest below 29.

In the end Ganguly may be stubborn enough to insist on keeping his place at the top. The lack of a suitable alternative is of course an arresting factor. Whether the perpetration of a makeshift arrangement, until Ganguly rediscovers his touch, is going to benefit the team is debatable. Both VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid are in dazzling touch and it would be unfair to disturb their secure perches in the middle order. As it turns out, Australia will be giving Glenn McGrath a well earned rest at Indore. With Jason Gillespie having been sent back home, both his twin tormentors are in cold storage. Perhaps that is just the psychological boost the beleaguered skipper needs.