VADODARA (India), Feb 22: Former India captain Saurav Ganguly faced an agonising 24-hour wait as the national selectors gathered here to pick the squad for the first Test against England on Thursday.

The left-hander’s future has generated heated debate across the cricket-mad nation ever since he was sacked as captain and dumped from the one-day squad in October following a public spat with coach Greg Chappell.

Ganguly, 33, was selected for the first two home Tests against Sri Lanka before being axed from the third and was a controversial selection for the subsequent tour of Pakistan.

In Pakistan, Ganguly did not get to bat in the first Test in Lahore, was dropped for the second in Faisalabad and made 34 and 37 in the third in Karachi which Pakistan won by 341 runs to clinch the series 1-0.

He was not picked for the one-day series which followed, in which India recovered remarkably after losing the opening match to win the next four games.

Ganguly, with 5,221 runs from 88 Tests and 12 centuries behind him, was considered an automatic selection for the first Test against England in Nagpur from March 1 after the in-form Yuvraj Singh was ruled out with a hamstring injury.

But recent statements from the powers-that-be in Indian cricket sounded an ominous warning for the most successful Indian Test captain ever.

Influential cricket board member Raj Singh Dungarpur, who managed the Indian team in Pakistan, was sceptical about Ganguly playing against England.

“I think it will be very difficult for Saurav to come in,” Dungarpur told reporters soon after the team’s return from Pakistan earlier this week.

“The young guns have come in and there is no place for him now.

“He scored 30-odd runs and chucked away his wicket. If he would have made 75, 80 or a hundred, it would have been different.”

Former Test wicket-keeper Kiran More, who heads the five-man selection committee, emphasised the importance of grooming younger players.

Asked if Ganguly would replace Yuvraj, More said: “Besides Ganguly there are a lot of cricketers like Suresh Raina and Mohammad Kaif. We have to look at everybody and choose the best considering all aspects.”

A place was created for Ganguly in the middle-order in Pakistan only because skipper Rahul Dravid opted to open the innings himself with Virender Sehwag in place of two specialist openers, Wasim Jaffar and Gautam Gambhir.—AFP