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VVS Laxman was dropped for an extra all-rounder at Sourav Ganguly's insistence for the 2003 ODI World Cup. (Reuters File)
VVS Laxman was arguably in the form of his life in Test cricket in the lead-up to the 2003 ODI World Cup, and despite his exemplary strokeplay the elegant Hyderabad batter was dropped from the squad for the tournament in South Africa. Laxman’s then-captain, Sourav Ganguly, recently revealed that the 2001 Kolkata Test hero did not speak to him for nearly three months after being snubbed for the inclusion of Dinesh Mongia.
The then-selection committee chief, Kiran More, had said last year that all five national selectors were in favour of Laxman’s inclusion, but captain Ganguly and coach John Wright had other plans.
“Before the 2003 ODI World Cup selection meeting, we had a huge argument when the Indian team was playing in New Zealand. As per the inputs received from the captain and the coach, we selected a 14-member squad and asked them what they thought of it. Over the conference call, Ganguly had a different opinion. We had selected VVS Laxman as our middle-order batter. Ganguly was very smart. He was a brilliant captain, a person with a great cricketing brain. He said ‘we need an all-rounder’,” More had told on former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif’s YouTube channel.
Ganguly recently stated that Laxman was devastated by the snub that left him without a World Cup appearance to his name despite featuring in 86 ODIs for India.
“It has happened many times when we rested players. They were unhappy. Laxman being left out of the World Cup…he never spoke to me for three months. Then I made up with him. Anybody would get upset…for a World Cup. Especially a player of Laxman’s calibre. Quite natural that he would get upset,” Ganguly told PTI.
India had a near-flawless run to the finals, where they were stunned by a dominant Australian side led by Ricky Ponting in a 125-run victory. Ganguly recounted the reconciliation and how Laxman made a successful ODI comeback that marked his best ever white-ball season for India in 2004, scoring 841 runs
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