To say that Saurav Ganguly, the Indian captain, is under the microscope will be the understatement of the year. The stylish left hander is definitely not the toast of either the cricketing fraternity or the public. The start of this year saw him lose his form in both versions of the game. With form deserting him, one saw him get into a verbal duel with one of the most highly respected captains of yesteryears. To make matters worse, repeated failures coupled with Ganguly's rumoured nocturnal activities were enough for everyone to go for his blood.

As always, emotions come to the fore in decision-making as far as the sub-continent goes. If the defeat in the triangular final was some grist to the mill, the humiliating defeat in the first Test has proved to be reason enough for cries emanating for Ganguly's ouster as captain. To see things objectively, Ganguly's record as captain does not warrant his being stripped off his captaincy. Agreed that the Indians have somehow not risen to the occasion especially during the previous seven finals. Still it must be admitted that the young team under Ganguly has done reasonably well in the Test matches even if qualifying for the final in the shorter version is not good enough.

Ganguly is guilty at times of making some strange statements but one must agree with him in that he is leading one of the most depleted Indian sides in recent years. A spate of injuries to the leading players has added to the woes of the captain. His comment about the youngsters not performing would quite obviously not help anybody. It is very important that the entire team takes the blame for the debacles. Then, of course pinning the blame on one player or the other has been the legacy of Indian cricket. Come to think of it, even the established players do feel the pressure and they too have let down the team on occasions.

I don't find any logic in the prevailing notion that Ganguly should be stripped off his captaincy. The prime reasons cited are his lack of contribution with the bat and his demonstrative demeanour on the field. If Ganguly's lack of form is the criterion, then common sense suggests that there is no point in Ganguly being retained in the side sans captaincy. It has to be accepted that Ganguly is going through a lean trot, which happens to any cricketer. He deserves to be given the chance and time to come out of this bad patch instead of preparing to throw him to the wolves. Ganguly would do well to control his emotions because it is his obligation as a captain of the team. On balance he has also been a victim of a few disastrous ruling from the ICC referee.

The Indian captain should realise that his team has come back strongly after trailing and that also in the recent past against Australia. The Indian line up does not have a few seasoned players in its ranks, but the situation demands that the team is realistic and mentally strong. It is the batsmen once again who have faltered and the batting line up is capable of performing much better than they are doing at the moment.

In a nutshell, Ganguly should not allow pressure to get the better of him because there is lot at stake for him personally. He has come back strongly once in his career against severe criticism and there is no reason why he cannot do it again. The next couple of weeks would prove to be the most crucial time in his career and I sincerely hope he would prevail over the situation.

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