Dhaka misses Ganguly in ODIs

Dhaka, May 6 (UNI) Sourav Ganguly has always been a favoured cricketer in this part of the world and hence his exclusion from the Indian ODI side has come as a shock to Bangladeshi sports buffs.

Ganguly has an impressive record in Bangladesh having captained India to victories in each of the three Tests -- the one-off match in 2000-01 and both games in 2004-05.

Though a Test century in any of the Bangladesh venues eludes this elegant left-hander, Ganguly has played successful knocks in each of the three innings, coming out with scores of 84, 71 and 88.

He has also played 17 ODIs here, ten of them as captains and has struck two hundreds.

A Bangladesh Cricket Board Official recalled that Ganguly's presence in the Indian team had boosted ticket sales on earlier occasions.

''He has always been a big crowd puller,'' he said.

Now disappointed fans eagerly look forward to see the former Indian captain in action in the two Test matches during the later half of the tour.

Ganguly was officially ''rested'' along with another senior pro Sachin Tendulkar by the Indian selectors for the three ODIs.

''We love Ganguly. He is a born fighter. We did not like the way he was dropped from the Indian team. But like Ganguly can, he made his comeback. He also did well in the World Cup. So, we had expected to see him in both the ODIs and Tests,'' said Ali Noor Islam Khan, who owns a food and confectionary shop in Ghaus-e-Pak Bhawan market complex.

Insan Ali, a stationary vendor, was eloquent in his praise for the ambidextrous cricketer.

''He is a great captain. I have a feeling that had he held on to the job of captaincy, India would have avoided the World Cup debacle. Count me in Mirpur stadium (here) for the first Test to see him bat,'' Ali said.

UNI