Ex Indian crickters :

A day after Ganguly was axed from the team for the third Test against Sri Lanka, the cricket fraternity by and large came out in support of the deposed captain and termed the decision of the selectors as "unfair and illogical"

Sunil gavaskar :

Former Indian cricket captain Sunil Gavaskar said Sourav Ganguly should take things easy and show his class in the domestic matches to claim his place in the Indian squad.
"That's cricket. I never had to face a situation where I was dropped ... but you have to take the rough with the smooth," said Gavaskar, whose world record for the highest number of Test centuries was last week bested by Sachin Tendulkar.
"Sometimes you score 0, sometimes 100. If the previous ball beat you, forget it and concentrate on the next ball. Sourav should win heaps of runs in the Ranji Trophy and make a statement,"

MOHINDER AMARNATH: You don't disgrace a senior player like this. Things will change only with a smaller selection panel and there should be no honorary jobs. Selectors should be paid, so that eminent people take it up.

CHANDU BORDE: This is not the way to treat a person who has done so much for the country as captain and player. First they dropped him from the ODIs… they were forced to take him in the Test squad after he scored heavily in domestic cricket and now they have dumped him despite he performing well in the Test. This is not done. They have dropped Ganguly, a middle-order batsman, and brought in an opener (Wasim Jaffer). Where's the logic? They called him a batting allrounder and he did not bowl a single over at the Kotla. Can you explain this? If it was done with the future of Indian cricket in mind, the same logic needs to be applied to others too. Why only Sourav?.

SABA KARIM: They (the selectors) must decide the composition of the squad on the basis of performance. I don't know what prompted them to drop him. It's a shocker. He scored a hundred in Zimbabwe three months ago. In Chennai, everybody including him failed. He batted well in both innings of the Delhi Test and also was involved in two good partnerships.

S. MADANLAL: It is a very wrong way of expelling him. He should have been given one chance, he should have been allowed to play in the third Test. He should take it boldly and not give up if he still has the ambition of playing for India. He is capable of that and will bounce back.

 Kirti Azad  want to know what criteria was used to drop Sourav. Why is that he's performed and he's still not in the team? What I want to know is that will the same criteria be applied to others as well?

Sandip Patil :It's a bold, while at the same time, tough decision that has been taken by the selection committee. Like in life you have to go forward in cricket too. I feel sorry for Sourav as I have also gone through such an experence,"

Public response is one thing, but it would have been better had the chairman (Kiran More) told the media much more than what he said on why such a decision was taken involving such a senior cricketer who had performed well.

if they talk about the future then why the rules apply to only one person and not others like Venkatsai Laxman and even Virender Sehwag who fails consistently. You can't have two sets of rules

 

Prasanna: I am shocked. I don't think he should have been treated like this. He performed quite well in the Delhi Test (against Sri Lanka). Dropping him from the third Test defies logic

 

Dilip Vengsarkar: He has served Indian cricket for years. You can't treat such a cricketer so shabbily . Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar also failed to see any logic behind dropping Ganguly . "I don't understand why he has been dropped. He had scored runs in both the innings. I guess the reasons are other than cricket,"

 

Kapil Dev: It is sad. Sourav did not deserve this. Not after his wonderful contribution to Indian cricket. Sourav is not the first cricketer to have suffered but then let us ensure that such dirty episodes are not repeated. But that is the BCCI for you. These officials will not offer any explanation for such a poor step. Ill-treating top cricketers has been the trend in our cricket and it is indeed tragic when you look at Sourav's immense effort in raising a good side and standing by his players.

Mohinder Amarnath: There can be no justification for the manner in which the selectors have handled things. Things could have been better. What was the hurry to take such a decision. They have been very, very unfair to Sourav. This is no way to treat a national icon. In any case, how do you justify his exclusion when he has scored runs and contributed in the team's victory. It is clear that the selectors have different yardsticks for different people. That is why I have always said that there should be fewer selectors and they should be cricketers of stature. My heart goes out to Sourav. He simply did not deserve this shoddy treatment.

Dilip Vengsarkar: It shows the immaturity of the selection committee. They have shown utter disregard for someone who has contributed immensely to Indian cricket and he certainly did not deserve this kind of treatment. What have the selectors tried to prove? Sourav is a national hero and you don't insult your heroes. There have been precedents when selectors have handled things poorly but nothing to match this. There is simply no cricketing merit in his exclusion.

Sandeep Patil: Same ground and same hotel. I had suffered a similar fate in 1984 and never played a Test again in my life. So I can understand how Sourav feels. It is a shocking decision that defies logic. Normally a player is dropped after failure but here Sourav had scored runs in both innings. He was involved in two partnerships that helped the team win the match. The issue could have been dealt with in better fashion. The selectors are not justified at all in dropping him after having brought him in just a few days ago. It was a bold decision no doubt. The argument could be that Indian cricket has to move forward because some youngsters are waiting for opportunities. But the selectors have made a mess of it really. They may not be answerable for their decisions but then there is no consistency here.

Madan Lal: If I were a selector, I would have spoken to him. He has been the captain, done well for the country, looking at his contribution we could have told him what we had in mind. Maybe after consulting him we would have taken a decision. He deserved this much of a farewell. The signs were there that they would drop him. Maybe they wanted to be fair to a youngster like Yuvraj Singh. But I would have preferred someone talking to him. He is a big player no doubt. They should have waited for one more Test.

Aunshuman Gaekwad: Nothing could have been more illogical. Ridiculous decision I must say. First you drop him, then bring him in, put him in the eleven, ask him to score runs. He scores runs and then you show him the door. Very, very unfair. In the last Test, Sourav was included instead of Zaheer Khan because the selectors thought he was a batting all-rounder. So when Sourav is dropped, logically Zaheer should come in. But they bring in an opener, who should have been there in the first place. It would have helped avoid experiments like Rahul (Dravid) and Irfan (Pathan) opening the innings. Can there be any comparison between Sourav and Yuvraj (Singh). They have only insulted a senior cricketer for all the good work he has done as captain